Major League Soccer Expands into Canada (Again)

Today, Major League Soccer announced its 19th franchise, an expansion team based in Montreal.  Canada's second largest city, however, will not be starting from scratch.  Currently, the Montreal Impact, a club whose existence goes back nearly two decades, play in the the highest minor league division for professional soccer in the US/Canada.  They were champions of that league last season.

Even better for MLS, the Impact already play in a relatively new (opened in 2008) soccer-specific stadium.  That facility, Saputo Stadium, will be upgraded for the switch to MLS in 2012.  Bonus: Saputo Stadium has a natural grass surface.

The Impact will use Montreal's Olympic Stadium (foreground) 

for select home matches.

The Impact's addition to MLS means that when they join the league in 2012, there will be three Canadian-based squads in the league (Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps).  And, already, there is a tense rivalry between these teams (there is a natural city rivalry between Montreal and Toronto), having met in various cup matches and lower-division games.  Moving Montreal and Vancouver to the MLS will only enhance these north-of-the-border rivalries.

In fact, I'm thinking that the tri-city Canadian rivalry could potentially be one of the most contentious in the entire league.  At current moment, the only intense rivalry (described as "these two teams really don't like each other") in MLS is between Chivas USA and the Los Angeles Galaxy (the teams share a stadium in Carson City, CA).  But, when Portland and Vancouver join the MLS in 2011, many expect a natural rivalry to develop between those two cities and Seattle, home of Sounders FC and the largest crowds in MLS.

All of these current and future rivalries overshadow what should be the league's most potent rivalry division with the teams located in New York, New England, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.  Unfortunately, the rivalry between New York and D.C. has never fully blossomed because both teams have struggled in recent seasons.  The league is hoping that New York and Philadelphia could bloom into a "mega-rivalry," but because the Union are in just their first year of play in MLS, a true rivalry will take time.

In all, expansion into soccer-friendly markets and soccer-specific stadiums is a natural evolution for MLS.  Though it remains to be seen whether the Canadian clubs will come to dominate, they will clearly be a boon for the league if only by providing some of the league's most dramatic match-ups.