Thanks for posting. I don't even know how many MLS teams there are because I don't follow it. But I know that at least 6 of those cities are light years ahead of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh isn't even in the race.Pittsburgh isn't even close to the top 5-6 potential MLS expansion cities. A few month back MLS asked for bids from potentially interested parties. Groups from the following cities put in proposals:
Charlotte
Cincinnati
Detroit
Indianapolis
Nashville
Phoenix
Raleigh/Durham
Sacramento
San Antonio
San Diego
St Louis
Tampa/St Pete
That's a dozen. And Pittsburgh is no where on the list. It is very unlikely that there will be an MLS team in Pittsburgh for at least the next several decades.
Pittsburgh isn't in the race for 2 reasons:
1. The owner of the Riverhounds is probably only worth a couple million bucks as a local Fayette County construction guy. He is in no position to bid for an MLS franchise.
2. Nobody else is interested in bringing an MLS team to Pittsburgh.
I personally do not think the MLS would work in Pittsburgh. But what is happening in Cincinnati and Atlanta make me think that if you put a ton of money behind it (like the Rooneys or Mario owning it), that it could be very successful here.
Atlanta, a city that lost an NHL team on 2 separate occasions, whose legendary Braves teams of the 90s weren't selling out playoff games, and whose Hawks play to half-empty arenas is possibly the worst sports town in America. Yet Atlanta United leads every major non-NFL pro franchise in attendance. Its unbelievable. I cant wrap my head around it.
Here's an article exploring why the MLS has been such a huge hit. Like the Riverhounds, they also had a minor league soccer team struggling with attendance.
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ited-mls-soccer-popularity-average-attendance