Local soccer entrepreneur Dan Duggan worked the room, so to speak, at the World Cup in Brazil as part of his effort to bring a professional fútbol team to Detroit next year.

Now, the clock is ticking.

Organizational and financing planning are ongoing, and Duggan said his goal is to have everything in place for a formal announcement before the high-profile, sold-out Manchester United-Real Madrid exhibition game at Michigan Stadium in August.

Duggan, owner of the semipro Michigan Bucks in Pontiac and brother of Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, announced in April he had preliminary approval from the Tampa, Fla.-based United Soccer Leagues to launch a USL Professional Division expansion team in Detroit in 2015.

USL Pro, as it's known, is equivalent to Double-A minor-league baseball, but with the potential to eventually become elevated to the top-tier Major League Soccer.

That's nothing more than a dream until Duggan gets his expansion bid organized and financed.

A June 15 deadline for Duggan to provide the league with financing details for the expansion team and a 5,000-seat stadium in Detroit has passed, but that's not a problem, those involved said.

"We remain in active dialogue with Dan Duggan regarding his efforts to bring USL Pro to Detroit. It is apparent he is making progress and we support his initiative," said United Soccer Leagues President Tim Holt via email.

The league doesn't disclose financial details about expansion teams, but such teams reportedly have been bought for more than $500,000.

The new Detroit team would cost about $2 million to operate annually, Duggan told Crain's in April, and he predicts a 5,000-seat stadium in the city could be built for up to $5 million.

He's not identifying potential stadium sites or other investors other than to say that he's in talks with the Apostolopoulos family, who own the Pontiac Silverdome and previously sought an MLS team for metro Detroit.

Duggan, who last week returned from the World Cup, where he attended games and conducted soccer business meetings, said he could not be specific about what remains to be done on his bid for an expansion team and stadium.

"We are making a great deal of progress with the ownership group and the stadium site, but there are so many moving pieces involved that I have told the league that I am still working through the process of who fits where and how this is all going to come together," he said in an email.

"The United Soccer Leagues fully understand my current position and the challenges that we have in securing the land to get a downtown stadium built to play in for 2015. That is still our plan, and we are working with several entities to get this accomplished."

Duggan said he's not talked with the league about a new deadline for Detroit's inclusion in the 14-team USL Pro for next season.

Duggan also said the August announcement would happen only if there was a firm deal in place.

"We are working hard to get this done since the soccer world will be in our backyard that weekend, but I will only do this if I have something concrete so that it does not appear that I keep attempting to get in the media to announce that I have nothing to say," he said.