Nashville heavyweights begin push for Major League Soccer expansion team
- MLS currently has 20 teams, but wants to eventually expand to 28 teams.
- The average franchise fee for a new MLS team could be as much as $200 million.
- A new team is set to begin play in Atlanta in 2017.
Convinced that Nashville should aim higher than the minor leagues, a group of Nashville business heavyweights has organized a new coalition to help Music City compete for one of four future expansion franchises that Major League Soccer plans to add.
The 22-member Nashville MLS Organizing Committee, which is composed of leaders from several of Nashville’s largest corporations, is set to formally announce its creation Tuesday. Efforts are led by wealthy Nashville businessman and investor Bill Hagerty, the former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development under Republican Gov. Bill Haslam.
Their push comes as MLS Commissioner Don Garber has said MLS intends to award four new expansion franchises, bringing the total number of MLS teams to 28. About a dozen cities, including several with existing lower-tier professional soccer teams, are competing for those four spots.
“Our optimism is very, very high about this,” Hagerty said. “The voice of support that we’ve seen from the leadership of this community has been really, really strong.”
Formation of the new committee — which includes top executives of HCA, Bridgestone Americas, Nissan North America and Ryman Hospitality Properties, the Tennessee Titans and the Nashville Predators — also comes after Nashville in May was awarded an expansion franchise by the United Soccer League, which is considered the third-tier league in North America's professional soccer pyramid. The USL is two leagues below MLS, the top tier.
Hagerty said he supports the efforts of Nashville FC — calling the USL effort “cooperative” with the MLS mission — but believes a top-level MLS franchise would thrive in Nashville. For Nashville to get an MLS club, he said, the city must make the case now by competing directly for an MLS team, rather than working up the ladder of lower-tier leagues. If the city waits, he said, Nashville is at risk of losing out on landing an MLS club for the foreseeable future.
“We felt like the time is now and if we’re going to do it, we need to go directly for it," Hagerty said in an interview from his Music Row office of Hall Capital, a private investment firm where he serves on the advisory board.
4 things to know about MLS' expansion strategy
Hagerty, who is considered a possible Republican candidate for Tennessee governor in 2018, pointed to conversations he had with MLS officials earlier this summer in New York in which he said they made clear that the league’s expansion plans are to halt after hitting 28 teams. He said MLS officials also have relayed to him that Nashville is behind other cities vying for a team and needs to catch up quickly.
He called Nashville “a place made for Major League Soccer,” citing the influx of millennials and immigrants in Middle Tennessee as well as impressive attendance figures of recent U.S. soccer matches held at Nissan Stadium. He also said he likes Nashville's chances — even though Nashville lacks an existing professional soccer footprint like other cities in contention for an MLS expansion team.
“If you look at the other cities that we’re competing against, our momentum story far exceeds anybody else, frankly anybody else in the country,” he said.
Strategic expansion for MLS
MLS, which has 20 clubs, plans to expand to 22 in 2017 with the addition of teams in Atlanta and a second franchise in Los Angeles. New expansion teams set for Minneapolis-St. Paul and Miami would bring the number to a stated goal of 24 teams by the end of 2020.
Long term, MLS officials have discussed a desire for 28 teams, and the league’s commissioner has said about a dozen teams are competing for those slots.
An expansion timeline is unclear. Contenders for future MLS expansion include Cincinnati; St. Louis; Detroit; Sacramento, Calif.; San Antonio; and San Diego. Others mentioned as possible candidates include Indianapolis and Charlotte, N.C.
In an emailed statement, Dan Courtemanche, executive vice president of communication for MLS, said he looks forward to visiting Nashville for the first time Oct.8 when MLS’ marketing division plans to host a Mexico-New Zealand match set for Nissan Stadium.
“Major League Soccer appreciates the interest shown by the Nashville business and community leaders in bringing an MLS expansion club to the city and we look forward to learning more about their plans,” Courtemanche said. “We are also very supportive of the efforts of Nashville FC to launch a USL club in Nashville and encourage community leaders and soccer fans to support Nashville FC.”
Courtemanche said MLS pursues expansion “strategically” and looks for cities with a committed local ownership group with “appropriate financial resources,” a comprehensive stadium plan in which the ownership controls the venue and an appropriate market geographically and in terms of the potential to attract television partners and sponsors.
He also said MLS looks for cities with a history of strong fan support at soccer matches and other sporting events, while also taking into account television market ratings for MLS games and other soccer matches.
Hagerty had previously been in preliminary talks with the North American Soccer League, which operates one league below MLS, about a possible team in Nashville. Those discussions have stopped as Hagerty puts his weight fully behind an MLS team.
Nashville FC, which is led by a group of Nashville investors called DMD Soccer, has been approved to begin play in the United Soccer League in 2018. But the owners have not secured a stadium to play.
“We are excited to see so many community leaders coming together to continue the development of professional soccer in the city of Nashville," David Dill, LifePoint Health president and top investor of DMD Soccer, said in a statement on new efforts for an MLS franchise in Nashville.
The case for Nashville
Hagerty said there's an open invitation for Nashville FC to join the Nashville MLS Organizing Committee.
In the coming months, the Nashville committee plans to make the case that the Nashville market is ready for MLS. Members of the committee also are planning a trip to Spain, where Hagerty said the goal is to learn more about the future of professional soccer.
Mayor Megan Barry, an outspoken supporter of bringing professional soccer to Nashville, applauded the latest efforts.
“What an exciting opportunity to build on our successes and plan for Nashville’s future as a soccer destination for the Southeast,” Barry said in a statement. “I’m glad to see so many of Nashville’s civic and business leaders are committed to working together towards our shared goals of Major League Soccer having a home in Music City.”
Entry into Major League Soccer requires franchise fees that could be as high as $200 million.
Hagerty said he's had conversations with possible investors in a Nashville MLS team. He declined to name any but said a Nashville team has drawn “international and domestic interest.”
A key prerequisite to bringing an MLS to Nashville is securing a stadium. Hagerty said he’s worked with Metro and private developers and identified a range of possible sites targeted in the urban core, but declined to reveal any specifics. He said he envisions Metro being a partner to help pay for a stadium, which he said could cost in the $200 million range.
Though some MLS clubs share stadiums with NFL teams, Hagerty said the goal would be to have a soccer-specific stadium in Nashville because it would improve the city’s bid for an expansion team. He indicated less of an interest in retrofitting an existing sports facility in Nashville such as Metro-owned Greer Stadium, which has been recommended for demolition by the city because of its poor condition.
“The focus on our effort right now has been on building a new stadium,” Hagerty said. “We haven’t ruled out a retrofit, but we haven’t put any plan like that squarely in our sights either."
Butch Spyridon, president of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. and a member of the new committee, said he believes Nashville is ready for Major League Soccer.
“I believe as valid as the minor league effort may be, we as a city should only be looking at major opportunities like MLS,” Spyridon said. “We need to think as highly of ourselves as the rest of the world is thinking of us right now.
“I don’t have any doubt, based on what I know of the other markets, that we can hold our own in terms of ticket sales and market draw. For me, we should be all-in and make this run.”
Hagerty served as Haslam’s economic and community development commissioner from 2011 to 2014. He had previously worked in a domestic policy role in President George H.W. Bush’s administration and returned last year to the private equity investment firm Hagerty Peterson LLC, which he founded.
His latest move to Hall Capital was announced last week. Also working on the MLS effort is Will Alexander, Hagerty’s former chief of state at the ECD and senior director at Hall Capital.
Hagerty said he first began pondering the possibility of an MLS team in Nashville during his time as ECD commissioner. He said witnessing Tennessee as a place that could attract companies such as Under Armour, UBS and Beretta under his watch made him realize the potential for MLS soccer here.
He likened attracting an MLS franchise to those economic development deals and said the right ingredients exist in Nashville.
“We have a shared vision. We’ve got a mayor’s office that is very engaged and motivated to make it happen. We’ve got strong interest from investors. All the pieces, I think, are coming together.”
Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.
Members of the Nashville MLS Organizing Committee
Larry Brown (CEO, Boy Scouts of Middle Tennessee)
Agenia Clark (CEO, Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee)
Sen. Bill Frist (Partner, Cressey & Co.)
Phil Bredesen (Former Tennessee Gov.)
Gary Garfield (Chairman and CEO, Bridgestone Americas)
Sean Henry (President and CEO, Nashville Predators)
John Huie (Co-Head, CAA Nashville)
Milton Johnson (Chairman and CEO, HCA)
Ken Levitan (President, Vector Management)
Rob McCabe (Chairman, Pinnacle Financial Partners)
Shane McFarland (Mayor, City of Murfreesboro)
José Muñoz (Chairman, Nissan North America)
Colin Reed (Chairman and CEO, Ryman Hospitality Properties)
Ralph Schulz (President and CEO, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce)
Butch Spyridon (President, Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp.)
Barry Stowe (Chairman and CEO, Jackson National Life Insurance Co.)
Steve Underwood (President and CEO, Tennessee Titans)
David Williams (Vice Chancellor and Athletics Director, Vanderbilt University)
Uzi Yemin (Chairman and CEO, Delek US Holdings)
Todd Vasos (CEO, Dollar General)
Bill Hagerty (Organizer)
Will Alexander (Organizer)
Major League Soccer
Founded in 1993, first season in 1996
20 current teams
Expansion plans
24 teams by 2020
The league hopes to then expand to 28 teams.
Teams on the way
Atlanta United in 2017
LAFC in 2018
Minnesota in 2018 or later
Miami, where the league is negotiating with a David Beckham-led ownership group; no time frame announced.
MLS costs
$200 million: The amount franchise fees could grow to in the coming years, according to MLS.
$157 million: The worth of the average MLS team in 2015, up 52 percent from 2013, according to Forbes.
Soccer in Nashville
Nissan Stadium has played host to several recent high-profile matches.
Oct. 8: The Mexican national team will face New Zealand.
March 2016: A crowd of 25,363 watched the U.S. women's national soccer team defeat France.
July 2015: The largest soccer match in Tennessee history saw 44,835 fans watch the U.S. men's team defeat Guatemala.