A Thoughtful NASL Expansion Plan

Well, first off, I would like to apologize to all of you for the lack of weekly recaps as promised. I have been going through a lot of personal sacrifice this whole month, including the absence of an Internet connection sans my phone's 3G data (and try typing a full-length blog on a phone and see how long it takes you)

Well, we have some big news coming out of Miami, and that is Miami FC is coming to the NASL in 2016, a full 2 years before Miami Beckham Spice Franchise makes its debut. Congratulations to Miami FC for the acceptance, but even though I like their plan better than MBSF, I don't think it was wise for the league to award a second team to the Miami market. From a purely soccer perspective, I love it because Beckham is quaking in his boots, but from a league survival perspective, this is bad... really bad.

Here is my expansion plan for the NASL in stages*:

1. Get west coast teams. This is an absolute must for NASL to retain D2 status (but you already know how I feel about that status) So, markets like San Diego, LA, Phoenix, and Vegas should all be considered first before markets like Miami. Accepting all 4 would bring the number of teams to 15.
2. Find a Canadian city to pair with Edmonton for road trips. This can be done along with step 1, but I'm writing this as a separate step for convenience sake. The perfect city to do this in would be Calgary because of the built-in Flames-Oilers hockey rivalry (but we can't force-feed rivalries down people's throats,... let it happen organically) Number of teams: 16
3. Fill out the east of the Mississippi with markets MLS rejected, like Baltimore and Detroit especially. I think it is a crime that pro soccer does not currently exist in those two citie, especially because Baltimore topped NBC's Premier League ratings last year, and the Northern Guard deserves something better than the NPSL, and, quite frankly, Detroit deserves better than a semi-pro soccer team being their best one.

Here is how my NASL would look by 2024:
Atlanta Silverbacks
Baltimore Bohemians
Calgary Foothills FC
Carolina RailHawks
Chicago Sting
CD Phoenix
Detroit City FC
FC Edmonton
Ft. Lauderdale Strikers
Hartford Whalers
Indy Eleven
Jacksonville Armada
Las Vegas Mobsters
Los Angeles Aztecs
Miami FC
New York Cosmos
Ottawa Fury FC
San Antonio Scorpions
San Diego Sockers
Tampa Bay Rowdies

* This plan assumes the Minn United MLS move takes place and allows for the Miami FC expansion, so I only counted 11 original NASL teams. Also, I did not take into account owners putting plans together to submit to the NASL for expansion by themselves.

A Defense of the LA Aztecs:

The LA Aztecs were an original NASL team, and I have seen some support for the Aztecs to return to LA at a given point. That's why I allowed a 3rd team in LA. Ditto with the Sting.