While MLS, now at 19 clubs, is taking a cautious, measured approach to expansion, the second-tier North American Soccer League is looking to grow quickly. Launched last year after splitting off from the USL (now pro soccer’s third tier), the NASL will field eight teams this season and is looking to add several more over the next couple of years.
In a Tuesday statement, the league announced that its board of governors “unanimously approved the parameters for the upcoming wave of expansion teams to join the league for play in the 2013 and 2014 seasons.” The NASL said it is in “active discussions with prospective owners in over 20 markets.”
The league replaced the Montreal Impact, now in MLS, with the expansion San Antonio Scorpions and already has committed to adding a team in Ottawa in either ’13 or ’14, depending on when refurbishment of the city’s Canadian Football League stadium is completed.
On Wednesday, the Scorpions broke ground on the club’s 6,100-seat soccer-specific stadium that is scheduled to open next year.
In 2012 the NASL will be comprised of San Antonio, the Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina Railhawks, FC Edmonton, Ft. Lauderdale Strikers, Tampa Bay Rowdies, Puerto Rico Islanders and the reigning champion Minnesota Stars. The season kicks off on April 7.
In order to maintain its U.S. Soccer Federation sanctioning as a second-division league, the NASL will have to have at least 10 teams in ’13 and 12 teams in ’16, with 75 percent of the clubs based inside the U.S.
The NASL also announced a two-year extension for commissioner David Downs through the ’13 season. Downs, a former TV executive, directed the failed U.S. bid to host the 2022 World Cup.
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