Is Detroit Getting A Major League Soccer Team?

Major League Soccer has announced plans to add four teams to the league by the 2020 season.

Is an MLS team coming to Detroit?

David Beckham expects to announce plans to buy an MLS franchise soon.  His MLS contract gives him an option to buy a franchise for $25 million.  New York's recent expansion franchise cost $100 million.

Beckham knows bargains.

But don't expect to see Beckham in Detroit.  His team is expected to land in Miami.

MLS already has an idea where their new teams might land.  Detroit.cbslocal.com has more:

Commissioner Don Garber announced MLS’s plan to add four more clubs during halftime of its annual All-Star game Wednesday night. The location of the teams has yet to be decided, but Garber said the league has already had discussions with potential owners.

At least one of those discussions has been with a Detroit-based owner.  There has been interest in bringing an MLS franchise to Detroit for years.  But first you need a place to play. That's in the works.

A $1 billion development plan, which includes a 25,000 seat soccer stadium, has been proposed for downtown Detroit.  Crainsdetroit.com has more:

Greek-born Canadian commercial property developer Andreas Apostolopoulos, who bought the Pontiac Silverdome in 2009 and Detroit's historic Penobscot Building last year, wants to build a privately funded 25,000-seat open-air stadium along with a mall, residential space and office towers on the site of the half-built Wayne County jail.

"We've been in discussions with the league for a few years, and it boils down to the stadium," said Steve Apostolopoulos, co-founder and managing director of Triple Properties. "Ideally, they want to be downtown."

If you build it, they will come?

I hope so.

Do you think a Detroit MLS franchise would be successful?

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