MLS Expansion: Miami is One of Three "Spoken For" Expansion Sites: Nightly Soccer Report

Miami is one of the three “spoken for” expansion sites that MLS Commissioner Don Garber referenced on Wednesday, according to a report tonight in the Sun Sentinel newspaper.

According to Garber, three of the four MLS expansion teams have been spoken for, to be added between 2015 and 2020, which will expand the league to 24 teams. The other two cities that are spoken for are believed to be Orlando and Atlanta.

But before soccer fans in South Florida start giving David Beckham high fives in anticipation of an announcement between now and the MLS Cup game, I have some reservations regarding the news. Even though I live in South Florida and would love to see MLS return to my area, the stadium issue is a concern. South Florida is a sprawling metropolis that includes four counties. If the team is to succeed, it needs to find a home that’s easily accessible by commuters from the three main counties — Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade.

If Beckham and friend (and possibly co-investor/partner) Marcelo Claure make a mistake by putting a Miami team at Florida International University, the new MLS franchise is doomed before it even gets off the ground. That location would shut out soccer fans from Broward and Palm Beach counties who wouldn’t visit the stadium in large numbers due to how far the stadium is from the north.

If Miami is one of the three “spoken for” markets, let’s hope Beckham is getting advice and doing his homework from others instead of just Claure.

Here are tonight’s world soccer news headlines:

MLS

• MLS expansion: Miami is one of three “spoken for” expansion sites — Sun Sentinel

Premier League

• David Moyes admits Leighton Baines deal is dead for good — The Guardian
• Neil Warnock: Sadly the lawyers won’t let football books include all the juicy details — Independent
• Samuel Eto’o: I never wanted to work with José Mourinho. I got it wrong — The Guardian
• Mesut Ozil could miss Arsenal debut after being too ill to train — The Mail
• Classic George Best pictures: Unseen photos of United legend at work and play feature in new book — The Mirror
• Manchester United manager David Moyes lifted by Darren Fletcher return after recovery — Independent
• Jacksonville Jaguars cheerleaders to perform at Fulham v West Brom — The Mail
• Paolo Di Canio admits to language problems at struggling Sunderland — The Guardian
• West Brom’s Zoltan Gera happy to make return from serious knee injury — Sky Sports
• Premier League ticket price drop for 2013 is nothing compared to 716% rise since 1989 — The Mail
• Manchester United boss David Moyes defends use of Shinji Kagawa in Premier League — Sky Sports
• David Silva and Gael Clichy ruled out of Man City clash with Stoke after Pellegrini confirms Kompany is nearing a return — Independent

La Liga

• Real Madrid tell £85m Gareth Bale to stay on the right — The Telegraph

Football League

• Clint Hill describes problems at QPR last season — BBC Sport

International soccer

• USA schedules friendly against Scotland at Hampden Park in November — Scottish FA
• A winter World Cup? Gulati is in no hurry to decide — New York Times
• FIFA open investigation against Costa Rica for jeering US national anthem & other trolling — 101GG
• World Cup 2022: Qatar chief rejects calls to move finals — BBC Sport
• Czechs appoint Pešice as caretaker coach — UEFA

Serie A

• European football preview: Kaka set for AC Milan start — BBC Sport

The Nightly Soccer Report is tomorrow’s news today. It’s often tomorrow morning’s worldwide newspaper headlines that are published the night before. We do all the work for you, combing the Internet and aggregating the news for you. Read The Nightly Soccer Report on World Soccer Talk every night before bed, so you can stay on top of all the news that matters.