Vikings owner Zygi Wilf wants a Major League Soccer franchise in his new stadium.

The Minnesota Stars say they know who it should be.

The Minnesota Stars.

“If it is a serious thing about having an MLS team here, I think the perfect model is right here,” Stars FC chief executive officer Djorn Buchholz said as the team prepared for its season opener Saturday, April 7, against the Carolina Railhawks at the Metrodome.

Last month, Lester Bagley, Vikings vice president for public affairs and stadium development, told a Senate committee that a new stadium would present an opportunity for Wilf to bring an MLS franchise to the Twin Cities within five years. Though MLS represents the top level of soccer in the United States and the Stars are in the North American Soccer League, a Second Division league, Buchholz sees the potential for an evolution of the Stars FC franchise into an MLS club.

“I think sports fans and soccer fans should be excited about the possibilities that are in front of us,” Buchholz said. “Second Division soccer is a great steppingstone to MLS. The people at MLS see that. We want them to say, ‘How do we get these guys to our league?’ ”

There is a precedent for such a move.

Four of the past five teams admitted into the 19-team MLS — Seattle, Portland, Vancouver and Montreal — had been Second Division franchises.

Bagley said conversations with MLS officials have been “preliminary” and “unless we resolve the stadium issue, we aren’t going to move forward on that issue.”

Bagley said MLS officials “have an interest in this market.”

But can a market that already has four major professional franchises, the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA and a major university support another sports option?

“It’s the question that is often asked,” former Minnesota Thunder general manager Jim Froslid said. “The passion inside me wants to say yes, but my mind tells me that it would be difficult. We compete with cabins up north, the Twins, the Vikings and everyone else. There is so much competition in that market for the sports dollar.”

Froslid, a Mounds View native, was the Thunder general manager from 2000-04 and a minority team owner in 2005. He is a former U.S. Soccer executive who now lives in Chicago and works as an executive with FieldTurf.

“At that (MLS) level, it takes a special person to come in and own the franchise,” Froslid said. “I am not just talking money. I am talking about having a passion for the sport. Does that kind of person exist in the Twin Cities? I have no idea. I would like to think so. It is a sophisticated market. It will take someone with a lot of passion and investment to make it happen.”

Wilf could be that person.

The Stars, who are owned by the North American Soccer League, are under a directive to identify local investors. Last season, the league gave a three-year commitment to support the Stars, who have a $1.2 million annual budget and last season won the NASL championship despite having the league’s lowest payroll.

Buchholz used the Seattle Sounders as an example of how an NFL-MLS partnership can be fruitful. The Sounders play at CenturyLink Field along with the Seahawks, and the teams share front-office staff.

“Last season was like cleaning house and putting a new roof on this team,” Buchholz said. “Now, coming off a championship season, we feel like there is no better advertisement to be the prize house on the block. This year is about putting that for-sale sign in the front yard and finding that right owner. Not just any owner, but one that has passion to make it work and see it succeed.”

Professional soccer has worked in the Twin Cities.

In the late 1970s and early ’80s, the Minnesota Kicks had a cult following and drew nearly 40,000 fans per game. The grass-roots Thunder, who thrived from 1990-2009, won the A-League national championship in 1999. In 2007, a crowd of more than 22,000 attended a Thunder exhibition game against David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy of MLS.

Buchholz is expecting a crowd of more than 10,000 for Saturday’s game. Last season, the Stars averaged 1,900 at the National Sports Center in Blaine. Buchholz predicts average attendance will climb to between 2,500 and 3,000 this season.

“Soccer is thriving in this country when it is put in an urban location,” he said. “I think our game (against Carolina) is a barometer and a taste of what soccer downtown can be all about.”

Pioneer Press reporter Frederick Melo contributed to this article.