Expansion Update #002 - January '25

With the addition of Grand Rapids, the league now has 4 officially announced future expansion teams, as well as a number of unofficial ones...

Nearly a year ago now, in March of 2024, MLS Next Pro President Charles Altchek said that he expected the league to be at 40 announced teams by the end of the year. As we enter the new year though, the league is at just 33 announced teams. They’ve officially announced just one new team since that statement, with the addition of an independent club in Grand Rapids, MI.

Nonetheless, there is plenty of expansion news (both official and unofficial), so let’s take a look at what has happened since October when the last edition of this was published.

Officially Announced

These four efforts have been formally announced as future independent expansion clubs, and are steadily making progress towards launching.

(i) Cleveland, OH

In our last update, Cleveland had just submitted their final NWSL bid and was waiting to hear the status of it. Well, they heard back and unfortunately they have lost out to Denver for the 16th expansion spot.

This, of course, is a massive setback for the group and something that will undoubtedly change their plans moving forward. Originally, they hoped to build a 12,000-seat stadium, but I suspect that was contingent on winning the NWSL bid. It’s unclear what their future plans are at this time, but if they decide to move forward without the NWSL team it’s likely they would alter their stadium plans to be more in line with what we’ve seen from Jacksonville, Bridgeport, and Grand Rapids. That is, a smaller initial stadium but built to be expandable in the future if needed.

Despite the setback, the group has continued to project a positive and determined message after the news:

Quick note to let you know: It’s not over, Cleveland.

We won’t be the 16th team in the NWSL. But we’re exploring all paths to make women’s pro soccer in Northeast Ohio a reality, a success, our future. Nearly 16,000 season ticket pledges can’t be wrong. Thank you for your support.

Stay in it, stay tuned for what's next.

Michael Murphy, Nolan Gallagher & Cleveland Soccer Group

If you ask me, I don’t believe they are planning to pack up and go home. They still have the MLS Next Pro expansion spot, and according to this article their purchase of a former college campus is still active and was not tied to the NWSL bid.

Hopefully we’ll hear more about their MLS Next Pro plans now that the NWSL bidding process is behind them (for now), but until then I’ll be slightly nervous about this one actually getting off the ground.

Est. debut: 2026+

(i) Jacksonville Armada FC

Back in our October edition, we had a soft confirmation that the team was delaying to 2026 and they had also just been granted the necessary approvals to move forward with their stadium plans.

Right before publishing this article, News4Jax reported on several new details regarding the stadium. The details come from the land deal that the city struck with the Armada, which ultimately resulted in the club purchasing about 6 acres from the city for a whopping $1. The deal also gave us a cost for “Phase 1”, $11m, a deadline for construction completion, September 2026, and a construction start timeline, “End of January”.

Back in November though, Armada President Nathan Walter stated construction is expected to be completed by end-of-year 2025 and confirmed a 2026 launch date. Walter told the Jacksonville Daily Record:

“We will start playing in the stadium in 2026, once completed,” Walter said by email.

Given the new information, I’d expect a groundbreaking ceremony sometime this month. The September 2026 deadline is likely a precautionary move by the city so they can ensure the stadium gets built, and if not the land returned to the city. With construction set to begin this month though, I think they’re right on track to debut for the 2026 season.

Est. debut: 2026

(i) Connecticut United FC

CT United FC did not have many major updates since the last article, but there has been additional information about their proposed stadium and their plans for construction.

On November 4th, it was reported that the club still expects the stadium to be completed in time for the 2026 season, even if that means they play some of the early season games on the road. Additionally, it was reported on November 28th that the stadium had cleared a “major milestone” as zoning officials gave their final approval for the club to break ground and begin clearing the site. With that said, they still require the needed permits to actually start that next phase, so I wouldn’t go grabbing your ceremonial helmet and shovel yet. We should hear more about the stadium and its required public funding in 2025.

To summarize, this club is pushing hard to get off the ground, and that is a positive sign. Their academy is now actively playing in MLS NEXT, and the stadium effort is slowly making progress. In my opinion, 2026 feels a bit too ambitious given the public funding needed is still not secured.

Est. debut: 2026+

(i) Grand Rapids, MI

If you follow me on either Twitter or Bluesky, you knew this one was coming.

On December 17th, they were officially announced as the 6th (active) independent team to join the league. If you are unfamiliar with the Grand Rapids effort, you can read more about it here in an article written following the “Special Announcement”.

A groundbreaking for their $175m, 8,500-seat stadium is tentatively scheduled for “Spring 2025”. The club has given themselves a long timeline to launch and anticipate joining for the 2027 season though. I have no doubts about this project hitting their stated timeline currently, as they seem to have gotten everything in place long before going public.

Est. debut: 2027

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Public Interest

The following projects have publicly announced their interest in pursuing an MLSNP expansion club, but have not yet been formally announced by the league.

Baltimore, MD

In their December meeting, the Maryland Stadium Authority gave a brief update on the ongoing stadium feasibility study that is being jointly run by the City and DC United. In that update, they stated the study was nearing completion and the results of it were expected to be released “next month”. Although that timeline is fairly vague, there is another MSA meeting on January 7th, which I’m tentatively expecting is when we’ll see the results of the study.

With that said, this study nearing completion does not mean stadium construction is coming anytime in the near future. The biggest thing that will come out of this, in my opinion, is the budget analysis. That analysis will likely act as a go or no-go milestone for all involved, and determine if the costs associated are worth pursuing. Given there is expected to be public funds involved, there would need to be some sort of formal negotiations between the city and the club as well.

If the study comes back with the kind of results that DC United are hoping for, then I wouldn’t be shocked to see a “Special Announcement” sometime in 2025. DCU has not been shy about their goal to launch an MLSNP team in Baltimore, and I think they would love to make that official.

Est. Debut: 2027+

(i) Albany, NY

There have not been any major updates on this project since the last expansion article, which given this is in the very early stages is not overly surprising.

I didn’t include this previously, but to give an idea of where things stand the group has hired famous architectural firm Populous to design the 8,000-seat downtown stadium. It’s true that anyone with enough money can hire Populous to design a stadium, but it is still a good sign that this group is serious about the project and is willing to invest to get the details right.

Oddly, we still don’t have an official “Special Announcement” yet for this effort though. My hunch is the league and the ownership group want to get further along in the stadium process before making this official. Stadium projects have fallen apart far later in the process, after all.

I’m going to hesitantly keep this one as “on track” for 2026 given a local politician noted if all goes smoothly, summer of 2026 is the expected opening of the stadium. We’re getting close to that not really being a feasible timeline though, so this may need to be adjusted in the near future.

Est. Debut: 2026+

(i) Reno, NV (Battleborn FC)

In the last edition, I said that I wouldn’t be surprised if this one had a “Special Announcement” before the end of the year, assuming the stadium project continued to progress. Of course, that announcement never came.

It seems that the permitting needed is still not finalized, and that may be part of the delay. I still believe they are committed to MLS Next Pro, but an official announcement seems to have shifted to 2025 (or beyond). The more the stadium project slides, the more the timeline to an official launch is likely to slide as well.

Est. Debut: 2026+

S.L. Benfica Residential Academy

We’ve got a new addition to the list thanks to a tip from a reader who sent over a relatively obscure youtube video of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica’s Director of Sales and International Expansion, Bernardo Carvalho, speaking at the Construction Entrepreneurs Networking Seminar & Education (yes, the exact place I’d expect breaking news about MLSNP).

Carvalho was there to discuss the Tampa-based residential academy they are launching in 2025, which they intend to be the “home base of Benfica in America”. While the residential academy itself is fairly interesting, its what Carvalho said about their future plans that has them on this list:

“… we’re going to have schools all over America and these schools will integrate into the residential academy, and then eventually we’ll have an MLS NEXT Pro team.”

I want to be extra clear here, this is unconfirmed. It’s very possible he misspoke and meant MLS NEXT, the youth league. However, in my opinion, it would be odd to explicitly mention “Pro” without meaning the professional league.

I’ve reached out to the residential academy for comment but, as of publishing this article, I have not heard back.

Est. Debut: TBD

(i) Long Island, NY

Since the last update, there has been no real movement and certainly no Special Announcement. With that said, I’m still cautiously optimistic that there is something brewing behind the scenes. More to come on this one…

Est. Debut: TBD

(i) Wilmington, NC

In the last edition, I highlighted that the ownership group is openly considering “all options” which includes USLC, USL1, and MLSNP. That information came all the way back in March though, so it has been a long time since a formal update from the prospective club.

There have been no updates at all since the last article, and even worse they have not further hinted at future updates (though their Instagram continues to be somewhat active). This effort may be dead for good, but we’ll see what news 2025 brings.

Est. Debut: TBD (if ever)

Others - No Update

• Weston FC

• Santa Cruz Breakers

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Final Thoughts

Obviously, MLS Next Pro President Charles Altchek’s “40 announced teams” by the end of the year did not materialize. However, that doesn’t mean these projects are dead either and we should see more “Special Announcements” in 2025.

In fact, Altchek said as much during the Grand Rapids announcement, telling reporter Tyler Kuehl:

“We’re making great progress. [Grand Rapids] is our 6th independent team, we have several more that are in the pipeline to be announced in the early part of 2025 and beyond…”

I’m not sure what projects he has in mind there, and it could be a variety of different projects like Baltimore (expecting a finished stadium study), Albany (already has league support), or several others mentioned in this article. There is even one effort that may apply here that I suspect is relatively close, but has not been made public yet.

Either way you cut it, the MLS Next Pro of today is going to look very different from the MLS Next Pro of 2027 and beyond.

Lastly, if you want to share anything, you can always email me at nextpronews@gmail.com or DM me on Twitter.

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