Expansion

MLS Commissioner Don Garber gives expansion update in impromptu Twitter Q&A

Don Garber

MLS fans who happened to be on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon had the chance to participate in an impromptu Q&A with MLS Commissioner Don Garber, who took a UEFA Champions League semifinal break to field questions.


As usual, expansion was a popular theme and Garber provided a series of updates: First, there was NYC2 ("we continue to make progress in Queens"), Miami ("there's been more and more interest of late"), Orlando ("hoping to see support in Florida House for stadium support bill"), Sacramento ("Interest in #Sacramento shows the increasing popularity of MLS") and even St. Louis ("Hopefully the @MCFC match next month will rekindle interest in MLS").


But will MLS be at 30 teams one day? Here was Garber's Twitter reply: "30 seems like too many."


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It wouldn't be a fan Q&A without the obligatory promotion-relegation questions: "impossible to imagine it could work with the current state of soccer in [North America]," the Commissioner replied.


But something definitely on the horizon is new player signings: "Hope to have some announcements during the summer transfer window," Garber tweeted.


Speaking of player transfers, US national team forward Herculez Gomez, who plays for Santos Laguna in Mexico, actually had an MLS player rules question. He wondered why his MLS rights were still held by Sporting Kansas City. Here's the refresher on the ROFR rule (right of first refusal): "They tried to sign you and you declined. We would love to have you back," Garber wrote.


The most entertaining question? What kind of suspension would Liverpool's Luis Suárez have received in MLS for his bite on Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic: "We talked about the situation during our Exec Staff mtg this a.m. He would be having a long time to think about it...."