Why Nashville?

Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber answered that question and others in an interview with The Tennessean on Wednesday before MLS officially granted Nashville a new expansion franchise. He was joined by Nashville's lead owner John Ingram.

Nashville is the league's 24th franchise, Garber said, but it's still unclear when the team will begin play. He said that will be determined at a later time.

Garber touted Nashville as a place on the rise that has shown a "can-do attitude" and willingness to make successful public-private partnerships.

"This is a city that we've really fallen in love with," he said. "Everything about it fits our brand. We're young. We're on the rise. We're very diverse. We're very interested in trying to do things a bit differently than the other pro sports leagues have done."

Full interview below:

Well, you can make it official: What's the league announcing?

Garber: We're announcing our 24th team coming to the great city of Nashville. We couldn't be more excited in so many different ways. A great ownership group led by John, great political support led by the governor and Mayor Barry, a terrific stadium plan. We're going to be welcoming one of the great American cities on the rise.

Why Nashville? Why, in the end, did Nashville get ahead of the other finalists, Cincinnati, Detroit and Sacramento?

Garber: Well, first it happened very quickly. Really, from the first meeting in July of 2016 with Bill Hagerty and Will Alexander, who came to New York to try to represent their city and look at the opportunity for MLS to come to Nashville. Shortly thereafter, we met John and John quickly put a team together and started really selling how great this city is in so many different ways — its ability for the public and private sector to work together, which is important for sports teams to be successful.

They had a great stadium plan that came together very quickly in a reimagined fairgrounds that we're really excited about. On the visit that I came here, I was totally taken by the excitement and pride that everybody in the city has for this town: its can-do attitude, its ability to represent sort of a 'new Tennessee' that very much fits with our brand.

You say 24th team. Where does that put Nashville in line to begin play? Is that before Miami? In what year will they begin plan?

Garber: Well, we haven't determined that yet. We still have to finalize our second team that will likely join Nashville as team 25 or 26, depending on where Miami comes in. All that will get resolved soon. We could be making an announcement in terms of where our timing is as early as tomorrow.

Teams were originally applying for the 2020 season to begin play. Could it be 2019 for Nashville instead?

Garber: It hasn't been determined, Joey. They're coming in as the 24th team, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're going to play as the 24th team.

MLS has a check-box expansion process: build a strong local ownership, secure a soccer-specific stadium, etc. Was there one piece that put Nashville ahead? Was it all of it together?

Garber: It’s a really good question. And John, we haven’t talked about this. I think almost in every instance, pro sports teams are driven by the vision, passion and belief of ownership. And that is the case here today as well. John and his partners believe in the city, they believe in our league and they just have a real passion about how MLS can help the city achieve its goals and at the same time provide real opportunity to fulfill the dreams of lots of kids who are playing the game and want to be a fan of the game.

Right after that is the city. This is a city that we’ve really have fallen in love with. Everything about it fits our brand. We’re young. We’re on the rise. We’re very diverse. We’re very interested in trying to do things a bit differently than the other pro sports leagues have done. We recognize that we’ve just finished our 22nd season. We’ve got generations of growth in front of us. And the third part of that was the stadium. But all three of them needed to be in place, which is why we’re announcing here today.

Were there questions surrounding the other three finalists — whether that’s stadium questions for Detroit or Cincinnati or something else? Or was it more about Nashville?

Garber: Well, Nashville was the most complete and had been very complete almost from the very beginning. John’s plan: He sat down with us and said, ‘This is what I think I can do. Is this along the lines of what you are looking for from an expansion proposal?’ And I have to say, and I will say it in my remarks, Nashville was not on any list that we had. And in less than two years time, they went from not being part of our vision to be really leading the pack.

I think that in November, when Mayor Barry had that successful Metro Council vote, it sort of skyrocketed, or rocketed, to the head of the list. But all of the cities have a lot to offer. And this announcement is not to take away anything from Sacramento, Detroit or Cincinnati. We just were much further along in evaluating and looking at a very complete proposal.

Learning that Nashville had secured a team

John, can you talk about when you got the word from Commissioner Garber that Nashville was picked and what was your reaction?

Ingram: It’s a combination of joy and also, we were working hard on some of the agreements to make sure there were no surprises or anything that would muddy-up the waters. We want to be thorough and complete. I was elated on the one hand. On the other hand, we were still doing some work to make sure that we’ve dotted our Is and crossed our Ts.

Was there a moment during this process — maybe it was the council vote or something else — when you thought, hey, we’re going to get this franchise?

Ingram: Well, clearly the council vote was a huge moment. As the commissioner alluded to, financing stadiums, creating stadiums is hard, and it takes a lot of cooperation and working together. I think part of Nashville’s secret sauce as a city is the fact that we can be collegial and collaborative. We don’t always have to agree about everything, but we tend to do it nicer than other places and we tend to have political leaders who can see the bigger picture and understand how something like this can be a great asset for our city and a great uniter of lots of communities that might not otherwise have a venue for intersecting.

The new stadium goes under construction late in 2018 and won’t be finished until the 2021 season. Where do you plan to play in the interim?

Ingram: Well, there’s several places that could be in play. A lot of it depends on where we and MLS land in terms of when they want us to start. But there are several locations that you’re familiar with.

Is Nissan Stadium the most likely?

Ingram: I would say it would be the most likely. And I would also like to put in a plug for both the Titans and the Predators. I think another part that’s unique about Nashville — and Don, you saw it when you were here – you probably haven’t done many in-city visits where all the other professional sports teams are there …

Garber: That’s fair to say.

Ingram: And are collegial. At this first lunch that we had when the team from MLS came down before the Gold Cup, Steve Underwood (president of the Tennessee Titans) was there. Sean Henry (president of the Nashville Predators) was there. And Joey, I was just delighted to have them there. And then they go on to say really supportive things and the view of Nashville as a place on the rise. It’s not viewed as a zero-sum game, where if someone buys a ticket to your sport then it’s taken away from mine.

What’s this team going to be named?

Ingram: Well, I think it’s going to be Nashville SC. But we might have a process to either reaffirm that or if people want to do something (different.)

How the stadium site played into the decision

Don, MLS has made clear that it prefers its stadiums in urban, downtown settings. With the fairgrounds, you’re talking about a couple of miles south of downtown, and it probably needs some work to get to what you want to see. What’s your comfort level with this as a stadium site?

Garber: Joey, we’re very comfortable with it. It is close to downtown and it’s connected to downtown in ways today, and I think it will be even more connected in the vision that the city has and the Turner family has for the redevelopment of the fairgrounds.

Our approach has always been to ensure that we have stadiums that are centrally located, that are easily accessible and are able to provide sort of a wide variety of entertainment options for our fans. In the re-imagining of the fairgrounds, because we’ve seen some of those plans, I think that’s going to exist.

One area that was debated in the council was this 10-acre mixed-use development led by the Turners. Was that an important piece of the stadium in the eyes of MLS?

Garber: I think so. We’ve always been ambitious in how we’ve been thinking about stadium development. And when I travel around and see these mixed-use, retail, entertainment developments, it’s sort of motivating to us to think about how our stadium could be an anchor to that.

I think it will be good for the city, it will be good for the residents who live here and are looking for new and interesting things to do. And we have a lot of confidence in the Turner family. The Gulch was one of these great urban redevelopment projects. And hearing what the Turners have talked about with their view of the fairgrounds, it has us really convinced it will be terrific.

There was a lawsuit filed by a group (Save Our Fairgrounds) against Metro over the Nashville stadium plan. It was dismissed by a judge Monday. Is that something the league was monitoring, is monitoring?

Garber: Yeah, we always monitor those things. I don’t think there’s any big development project that happens in our country today that doesn’t have some challenges associated with it. We’re pleased that those challenges are behind us.

Predators Stanley Cup Final run and MLS

How important was the Nashville Predators’ Stanley Cup Finals run — watching how the city rallied around a nontraditional hockey market — in convincing MLS that pro soccer can work in Nashville?

Garber: Clearly, the Predators are an incredible success for our industry. I think it shows that this city wants to embrace things that are inherently local and are delivering excitement and value for the community. And whether it’s hockey, which was new to the city, or its engaging in the Gold Cup or engaging in an international match, my impression was that people really care about the community and they want to have things that they can attach themselves to that gives them pride.

What about the other pro sports teams?

Are any of three cities out of the running for the other expansion spot?

Garber: No.

A place like Cincinnati has shown it can support pro soccer in a major way with its USL team. Meanwhile, some in Cincinnati might say that Nashville hasn’t proven itself as a soccer market. Are you comfortable that there’s room in Nashville for a third pro team?

Garber: I’m very comfortable with it. Not taking away anything from Cincinnati — they’ve put together a great bid, and we’re very bullish on their chances to be an MLS expansion city — but I have no doubt it will be successful here.

Ingram: Joey, I will tell you, the overlap in the ticket base in Atlanta, for instance, between the Falcons and Atlanta United is less than 3 percent. So, it’s a completely different fan base. I think Seattle is a very similar situation. And I think it could well be the case here. I think what you’ll see is you’ll see some overlap but you’ll see there’s a large part of this community that’s not necessarily engaged in the other professional sports but would be engaged in this.

Is the wild success you’re seeing with your new club in Atlanta, another Southeast market, one more reason to pick Nashville?

Garber: It was. We’ve been very focused with expanding our league to the Southeast. Our first expansion was Orlando, and then we expanded in Atlanta, and we remain really focused on this part of the country, particularly intrigued by what’s happening in Tennessee with the number of corporations coming into the city and hiring people all over the country, and the connectivity that those companies with those sports teams.

I mean, Nissan is committed to being involved with a soccer team. The meeting we had in July with the MLS2Nashville group — we had lunch with a bunch of corporate leaders — it was probably one of the most exciting and empowering meetings that I’ve had in my years as commissioner. Literally, they were talking about, ‘Here’s what we will do if you bring your league …

Ingram: Which was great because I got to just sit back and be quiet. I also think that some of the bigger corporations here are led by non-Americans, which is kind of an interesting dynamic. It gives a little bit broader, global perspective about what soccer can mean in your community

What do you, John, over the next couple of years need to do to get this team off the ground?

Ingram: Well, of course, we’re just over the moon about being here today and to be chosen. And you know, without trying to gloat too much, we’re just excited about being able to come so far, so fast. And I think it’s a tribute to the team that we put together, to the city, to the way the political class and the business class works together here.

We’ve got a USL team that starts preseason against Atlanta United on Feb. 10., right out of the box. We’re going to be really dedicated to building our soccer fan base and soccer-supporter base over the next couple of years. And we’ll figure out what to do with the USL club over that time.

Sitting here today, I’d like to find a way to have both because I think that would help us create a more competitive MLS team to have a strong, nearby USL team.

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236, jgarrison@tennessean.com and on Twitter @joeygarrison.