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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Nashville expected to be awarded MLS franchise at Wednesday announcement | Nashville expected to be awarded MLS franchise at Wednesday announcement |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| Major League Soccer officials have called a press conference for Wednesday in Nashville, where they are expected to announce Tennessee’s capital has been awarded a new expansion franchise. | Major League Soccer officials have called a press conference for Wednesday in Nashville, where they are expected to announce Tennessee’s capital has been awarded a new expansion franchise. |
| Tennessee governor Bill Haslam, Nashville mayor Megan Barry and MLS commissioner Don Garber are expected to attend the event on Wednesday afternoon at the Country Music Hall of Fame. | Tennessee governor Bill Haslam, Nashville mayor Megan Barry and MLS commissioner Don Garber are expected to attend the event on Wednesday afternoon at the Country Music Hall of Fame. |
| Also slated to appear is billionaire John Ingram, the lead investor of an expansion group backed by the Wilf brothers, who own the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings. | Also slated to appear is billionaire John Ingram, the lead investor of an expansion group backed by the Wilf brothers, who own the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings. |
| Nashville is one of four finalist cities, along with Sacramento, Cincinnati and Detroit, expected to be awarded the league’s 25th and 26th franchises, which will enter the league for the 2020 season. | Nashville is one of four finalist cities, along with Sacramento, Cincinnati and Detroit, expected to be awarded the league’s 25th and 26th franchises, which will enter the league for the 2020 season. |
| BREAKING: The MLS Commissioner will be in Nashville tomorrow for a big announcement! He'll be joined by @MayorMeganBarry and Gov. @BillHaslam. Interpret that how you wish @NC5 pic.twitter.com/nG5qhWOwQ2 | BREAKING: The MLS Commissioner will be in Nashville tomorrow for a big announcement! He'll be joined by @MayorMeganBarry and Gov. @BillHaslam. Interpret that how you wish @NC5 pic.twitter.com/nG5qhWOwQ2 |
| The Music City bid started the year toward the back of the 12 candidates that put forth bids for expansion, but gained momentum in November when the Metro Nashville City Council approved $225m in revenue bonds to construct a 27,500-seat soccer stadium and an additional $50m in bonds for renovations and improvements around the site at the current fairgrounds. | The Music City bid started the year toward the back of the 12 candidates that put forth bids for expansion, but gained momentum in November when the Metro Nashville City Council approved $225m in revenue bonds to construct a 27,500-seat soccer stadium and an additional $50m in bonds for renovations and improvements around the site at the current fairgrounds. |
| “People all across our city, from elected officials to business and civic leaders, soccer fans and the public, have joined together in support of this bid,” Ingram said after presenting the bid to the league’s expansion committee on Dec. 6. “We believe MLS and Nashville are a perfect match and are ready to prove that Music City is Soccer City.” | “People all across our city, from elected officials to business and civic leaders, soccer fans and the public, have joined together in support of this bid,” Ingram said after presenting the bid to the league’s expansion committee on Dec. 6. “We believe MLS and Nashville are a perfect match and are ready to prove that Music City is Soccer City.” |
| Nashville has an NFL franchise in the Tennessee Titans, which arrived from Houston in 1997. The Predators began play in 1998 as an NHL expansion franchise and lost to Pittsburgh in this year’s Stanley Cup final. | Nashville has an NFL franchise in the Tennessee Titans, which arrived from Houston in 1997. The Predators began play in 1998 as an NHL expansion franchise and lost to Pittsburgh in this year’s Stanley Cup final. |
| Music City has been hosting soccer at the Titans’ Nissan Stadium in recent years and impressed Garber this summer when the U.S. played Panama in its Concacaf Gold Cup opener. The 8 July game drew 42,622 fans to Nissan Stadium, and 56,232 attended a preseason exhibition on 29 July between Manchester City and Tottenham. A US women’s national team match against France in March 2016 was attended by 25,363. | Music City has been hosting soccer at the Titans’ Nissan Stadium in recent years and impressed Garber this summer when the U.S. played Panama in its Concacaf Gold Cup opener. The 8 July game drew 42,622 fans to Nissan Stadium, and 56,232 attended a preseason exhibition on 29 July between Manchester City and Tottenham. A US women’s national team match against France in March 2016 was attended by 25,363. |
| “If you don’t have success with friendlies or international competition, you’re not going to have success in MLS,” Garber has said. “So that’s a checked box that we’ve actually checked a while ago.” | “If you don’t have success with friendlies or international competition, you’re not going to have success in MLS,” Garber has said. “So that’s a checked box that we’ve actually checked a while ago.” |
| Nashville’s stadium proposal includes private development of 10 acres around the stadium and renovation of the fairgrounds. The stadium could open by March 2021 with bonds approved on the condition Nashville receive an expansion franchise from MLS. | Nashville’s stadium proposal includes private development of 10 acres around the stadium and renovation of the fairgrounds. The stadium could open by March 2021 with bonds approved on the condition Nashville receive an expansion franchise from MLS. |
| Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle on Monday granted a motion by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County to dismiss a lawsuit filed in Tennessee Chancery Court’s 20th Judicial District by a group called Save Our Fairgrounds and 11 individuals. They were attempting to obtain court orders blocking a stadium. | Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle on Monday granted a motion by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County to dismiss a lawsuit filed in Tennessee Chancery Court’s 20th Judicial District by a group called Save Our Fairgrounds and 11 individuals. They were attempting to obtain court orders blocking a stadium. |
| “Nothing in the Metro Charter prevents additional uses of the Fairground Tract,” she wrote. | “Nothing in the Metro Charter prevents additional uses of the Fairground Tract,” she wrote. |
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