Seattle the next city to get an MLS team?

According to Jonah Freedman of CNNSI and Soccer By Ives, Seattle is the next city to get a new MLS franchise. Seattle is already home to the Sounders of the United Soccer Leagues First Division and the MLS team will keep its name. The new Sounders will begin play for the 2009 season.

MLS' goal is to expand to 16 franchises by the 2010 season. The league currently has 13 teams and announced in July that it would add San Jose, Calif., as its 14th franchise for '08.

Seattle had been at the forefront of as many as eight candidate cities for further expansion. Portland, Ore., was also a consideration for a new club in the Pacific Northwest.

The new Seattle franchise would bring the number of teams in the MLS Western Conference to eight. If the league wants to balance its schedule, it must now add an Eastern Conference team. St. Louis and Philadelphia are said to be the frontrunners.

Portland in MLS???

According to reports, Major League Soccer hopes to have an expansion franchise in the Pacific Northwest by 2010, and Portland is a possibility.

On Tuesday, MLS Commissioner Don Garber took a 45-minute tour of PGE Park, but Portland is no sure thing to land the expansion team. The league might not find PGE Park suitable, and there's the possibility that Seattle gets the Pacific Northwest entry.

Garber said the league has been discussing adding a Northwest franchise for at least six months with an investment group. The investors, whom Garber declined to identify, initially envisioned Seattle as the locale. Only recently has Portland emerged as an option.

Los Angeles is home to the West Coast's only two MLS teams, the Galaxy and Chivas USA. The two-time MLS champion San Jose Earthquakes moved to Houston after the 2005 season.

MLS started with 10 clubs in 1996 and now has 13. The league is expected to add three more teams by 2010.