Al Willman

Special to The Detroit News

For those expecting to hear more about Detroit’s bid for a Major League Soccer franchise, that’s not coming for at least another week.

As expected, MLS commissioner Don Garber was tight-lipped in Friday’s State of the League news conference in Toronto regarding any of the 10 markets hoping to secure the next four expansion bids.

“Following our board meeting on Thursday in New York, we’ll announce a process and a timeline for our next round of expansion, which will add clubs 25, 26, 27 and 28 to Major League Soccer,” he said. “Contrary to what’s been reported — we saw a number of reports today — we are not announcing our expansion process today.”

Garber said when he meets with the league’s Board of Governors in New York City next week, expansion will be discussed.

The goal, Garber said, is to announce the winners of each bid, the timeline for their inclusion and the expansion fee for each team — which could be as high as $200 million — by 4 or 5 p.m. next Thursday or Friday.

While Atlanta, which is the first of two new cities for 2017, has already sold more than 22,000 season tickets — the most in league history for an expansion club — things are moving ahead for the team in Minneapolis/St. Paul, which is set to break ground on its new stadium on Monday.

Detroit still on Major League Soccer’s radar

“That club (Minnesota) is firmly on track to reach their cap on season tickets that can be sold in their new stadium when they take that new stadium a year from now," Garber said.

Garber said an important factor in expanding the league is the ability of each new team to create a regional rivalry with an existing club.

“Rivalries are a big part of our strategy,” he said. “Our highest rated television events are the ones that are our rivalry matches. So rivalries are important. Whether it’s Cincinnati and Columbus, or it’s (Kansas City) and St. Louis, this idea that getting this communal, tribal engagement is important to us."

Garber said he’s been taken aback by the number of major cities that have expressed interest in an MLS club.

But with that go a number of factors.

“What I am thinking about quite a bit is (that) it seems that there is no city in America where you can’t have a viable professional soccer team,” Garber said. “The question is, ‘At what level? The question is, ‘What are the facilities?’ ‘How does that provide value geographically to the respective leagues?’ ‘What’s the long-term vision of those teams?’

“It’s very easy to get intoxicated by immediate success, but you’ve got to think about this — what’s it look like 20 years from now, because this league will be here 20 years from now and we’ve got to be mindful of stability and not move teams around. But the takeaway from me in the last two or three years is the shock, frankly, at the energy in almost every major city in wanting to support a professional team. That’s a function of everything we’ve all been doing, all of us, to grow the sport.”

Al Willman is a freelance writer

MLS Cup

Seattle Sounders at Toronto FC

When: 8 p.m. Saturday,

Where: BMO Field, Toronto, Ontario

TV: FOX

Notable players: U.S. National Team members Jozy Altidore (Toronto) and Clint Dempsey (Seattle) are both playing on Saturday.

Fun facts: This is the first time either team has competed for the MLS title. Both Seattle and Toronto FC are also fairly recent expansion clubs. Toronto entered the league before the 2007 season, paying $10 million to do so. The Sounders began MLS play in the 2009 season, and paid $30 million.