Its not official yet, but according to MLS Rumors and Its Called Football , Major League Soccer is set to announce that they will expanding again in 2012. The new franchise, called the Montreal Impact, will add another USL team and provide a natural rivalry with Toronto FC.
While I believe that the Montreal franchise can be as successful as Toronto and Seattle, I have to wonder whether MLS is expanding too rapidly. Consider that this year they added Seattle, next season it is Philadelphia. Then in 2011 Portland and Vancouver are joining, and now Montreal in 2012. That is 5 new teams in four years. An extra 100 players playing in Major League Soccer.
With this sort of rapid expansion, will the quality of the league suffer?
The MLS plans reminds me of the rapid expansion of the National Hockey League in the 1990’s. The NHL added all these sunbelt franchises, but in the rush to expand the reach of hockey and become a major sport in the U.S., the quality of play dropped as the new players added would not have been good enough for the NHL prior to expansion.
My worry is that MLS is heading down the same path. What do you think?