M.L.S. Hits Two Milestones: 25 Years and 26 Teams

Ian Ayre, the chief executive of the other new team, Nashville S.C., was until 2017 the chief executive of Liverpool. He said this week that he has found the culture change of joining M.L.S. refreshing, and far more collegial than he was used to in Europe.

When he got started, Ayre said, he reached out to established teams for help with Nashville’s initial planning. “When I sat down to create our first budget, I called three C.E.O.s at other teams and said, ‘Guys, you’re going to have to help me here,’” Ayre said. “Each team sent me their entire budget.”

Years later, he still laughs at the memory. “At Liverpool, you’re not going to share your budget with Man U.”

Is 30 teams too many?

M.LS. will add teams in Austin, Texas, and Charlotte, N.C., in 2021, and in Sacramento and St. Louis in 2022, bringing the league to 30. The money from their expansion fees will be welcome for the league, and each team has grand plans to spend millions more on its stadium, but the rapid increase in the size of M.L.S. has brought its own set of problems.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/28/sports/soccer/mls-preview-2020.html