Tuesday evening, snow covered the outfield grass at Target Field, as it is wont to do in Minnesota in the springtime.
But, by the time Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber stepped to a podium Wednesday afternoon at the baseball field, the snow was gone, and there was nothing but an expanse of green — plenty of room to run.
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On Wednesday, MLS officially awarded an expansion franchise to the owners of Minnesota United FC, which is currently a member of the second-tier North American Soccer League. The team will move up to MLS for the 2018 season and play in a new soccer-specific stadium that will be built in downtown Minneapolis.
Back to the good news. @MNUnitedFC became the 23rd MLS team today: http://t.co/a5vFmY3tZ7 #MNU2MLS pic.twitter.com/YUEozBf1Zo
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 25, 2015 The ownership group is led by former UnitedHealth CEO Bill McGuire and also includes owners of MLB's Twins and the NBA's Timberwolves.
McGuire's bid beat out a competing effort by the Vikings' owners to bring an MLS team to the NFL team's new stadium, which is currently under construction.
"This started as a project that was about this town, about taking a team that had deep roots here and saving it," Garber said at Wednesday's news conference. "[McGuire] has become an avid and passionate lover of our game, and he decided that he wanted to take Minnesota United, that had a deep history in the community, and take it to a higher level, take it to the top flight of soccer in America."
The Twin Cities have supported a variety of professional teams at various levels since the NASL first arrived in 1976.
The area's current team, Minnesota United, has found success on the field. Last year, winger Miguel Ibarra became the first player from a lower-tier American league to be called into the U.S. national team since 2005.
But the area — and McGuire in particular — wanted a bigger stage, and soon they'll have it.
"I want to thank Don and the other owners for their faith and confidence in us and our community and recognition of the vitality of this community and what it stands for and what it will continue to be in the future," McGuire said Wednesday. "This all came about, really, because of watching this game on a cool fall evening a couple years ago and saying, ‘We have to do something with this, we have to make it more than it is,’ and that’s what this is about.
"That was two-plus years back. What a remarkable journey in a very short time."
Minnesota will become the league's 23rd franchise.
MLS added Orlando City SC and New York City FC for the 2015 season. The league will expand to Atlanta and add a second Los Angeles team for 2017.
Miami also has been promised a franchise if it can get a suitable stadium deal. But, whatever happens there, MLS is a far cry from the 10-team operation it was from 2002-04.
"We are now just 20 years old, one generational turn," Garber said. "Our greatest years are still ahead."
