Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber announced Thursday the league will expand to 28 teams with Sacramento Republic FC and a St. Louis ownership group leading the formal bid process. The expansion fee sits at $200 million per franchise, double the $100 million charged to Nashville SC and Inter Miami in 2017. The committee hears formal presentations this spring, with franchise awards expected by mid-summer.
Sacramento brings a 10,000-capacity stadium operational since 2014 and a $252 million downtown venue plan pending city council approval in June. The ownership group is led by billionaire Ron Burkle, who controls stakes in the Pittsburgh Penguins and formerly held shares in the Los Angeles Kings. St. Louis cleared its most significant hurdle in April when voters approved $60 million in public funding for a 22,500-seat stadium near Union Station. The ownership syndicate includes the Taylor family, founders of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, who collectively hold a net worth north of $7 billion.
The $200 million fee reflects MLS arithmetic that makes sense only to family offices sizing soccer as a *patient* real estate play. Atlanta United sold for $400 million to Arthur Blank in 2014 at a $70 million entry fee; the club now carries a Forbes valuation of $500 million after three seasons. LAFC's $110 million entry in 2014 preceded a $700 million valuation in 2023, an annualized return of 23% before stadium appreciation. The league's average club valuation rose 33% year-over-year, driven by Apple's $2.5 billion broadcast deal inked in June that guarantees $300 million annually through 2032. That contract eliminates the local broadcast variable—historically worth $3 million to $8 million per club—and redirects leverage to stadium control and naming rights.
Sacramento's bid carries structural advantage because the franchise would inherit a USL Championship side generating $8 million in annual revenue and averaging 11,569 fans per match in 2023, second in the second division. The club operates without debt and owns its intellectual property outright, including jersey sponsorships and academy structures already aligned to MLS guidelines. Burkle's involvement signals access to capital that eliminates stadium financing risk; he closed a $1.2 billion SPAC merger in September unrelated to soccer but demonstrative of liquidity.
St. Louis presents execution risk wrapped in market logic. The metro area ranks 21st nationally with 2.8 million residents, larger than Nashville (1.9 million) or Austin (2.3 million), both of which entered MLS in 2020 and 2021. The city lost the NFL Rams in 2016, creating a 65,000-person season-ticket waiting list that expired without a team to receive it. The ownership group includes Jim Kavanaugh, CEO of World Wide Technology, a $17 billion-revenue IT integrator that could anchor a jersey deal worth $6 million to $8 million annually—at the league's high end, below only Atlanta's $10 million Delta partnership. The complication is stadium construction, which breaks ground in late 2024 with a 30-month build timeline that delays revenue capture until 2027.
The expansion committee meets again in May to review financial models and stadium lease terms. Cincinnati's entry in 2019 at a $150 million fee established the pricing floor; Detroit and Phoenix remain in conversation as potential franchises 30 and 31 if Sacramento or St. Louis stumble. Las Vegas withdrew from consideration in March after failing to secure a stadium site, a decision that removed the league's cleanest path to a $250 million fee given the market's gaming and entertainment infrastructure. The committee awards franchises separately, not as a pair, which allows for a single approval if one bid deteriorates.
MLS operates 29 teams in 2024 after San Diego entered this season at a $500 million valuation paid to the league and existing owners as an expansion profit-share. The league's 2027 target of 30 teams remains operative, with commissioner Garber stating in December that further expansion beyond that figure is "not a priority until we see how the Apple deal performs." Translation: revenue per club must clear $35 million annually before dilution makes sense again.
Sacramento's stadium vote happens June 14; St. Louis breaks ground on construction by September. Watch which ownership group closes a naming-rights deal first—that will tell you who has the balance sheet the committee wants to see.
The takeaway
**$200M** entry fee reflects MLS club valuations rising **33%** annually; Sacramento and St. Louis bid decisions by mid-summer.
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