Major League Soccer announced Friday that it is delaying the inaugural seasons for three expansion teams – Charlotte, Sacramento Republic FC, and St. Louis – by one year due to the impact of COVID-19.
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Charlotte will now make its debut in 2022, while Sacramento and St. Louis will begin playing a year later. Austin FC is still slated to make its league debut in 2021.
The decision to delay the inaugural seasons for all three teams was driven primarily by the league, and all three teams agreed that waiting was the best course of action. The final decision was made by MLS Commissioner Don Garber along with the league’s Expansion Committee.
“We have always taken a thoughtful and strategic approach to our expansion planning and have made successful launches for each new club,” Garber said in a prepared statement. “It is important that each club take the time to launch their inaugural MLS seasons as their fans and communities deserve. With the extra year to make up for what has been a challenging 2020, these teams will be well positioned for their debut and for long-term success. “
The impacts of the pandemic have hit the MLS business hard, and Garber declared last month that the league and its teams would suffer a $ 1 billion revenue hit in 2020. The three expansion teams have also been affected. The Charlotte team, which will reveal its name and brand on July 22, has suffered delays related to renovations at Bank of America Stadium, which is also home to the Carolina Panthers of the NFL.
“After much discussion with Major League Soccer, we are confident that the best thing for our club and our supporters is to take additional time to ensure a successful inaugural season,” said Tom Glick, president of Tepper Sports & Entertainment. Charlotte’s owners. “When we were awarded the team in December [of 2019]We knew we were on an extremely tight timeline to start playing in 2021, but we were ready to meet that challenge. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted several of our essential initiatives. We have made tremendous progress in the past few months, but it is important to have additional time to build. “
Sacramento and St. Louis are in the process of building new stadiums. Sacramento is currently conducting preparatory work on a stadium at the downtown Railyards site, but the team said in a statement that the delay will allow it “to address the pandemic-driven challenges in the global construction economy.”
“With an additional year, we can better adapt to the impact of the pandemic in our community and identify how we can better serve the neighbors and friends who have supported our club in its promotion to Major League Soccer,” said Matt Alvarez, Republic investor. FC. .
The St. Louis stadium project at the Midwest site continues to move forward “following the guidelines of health and government officials to effectively and safely manage” the effort the team said in a statement. A source with knowledge of the situation added that St. Louis had been impacted by the pandemic in other aspects of the business, including hiring personnel.
“We have been working closely with the league and collectively agreed that the tight timeline was the best decision to position our club for a historic launch and long-term success,” said Carolyn Kindle Betz, CEO of MLS4TheLou.
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