Matthew Glenesk

matthew.glenesk@indystar.com

Twelve cities are vying for four spots as Major League Soccer looks to expand for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Indy Eleven owner Ersal Ozdemir handed in the team's expansion paperwork at MLS headquarters in New York on Tuesday. The Eleven's bid includes a proposed 20,000-seat Downtown stadium that will cost in excess of $100 million, according to the team's latest estimates.

So how does the Eleven's bid stack up against the competition?

Indy Eleven's MLS bid won't come easily — or cheaply

Here's a look at 11 other cities with MLS aspirations:

Nashville, Tenn.

Nashville’s ownership group first made contact with MLS officials last year. Unlike several others getting looks, Nashville has never fielded a pro soccer team at any level. And Nashville's metropolitan population is the smallest of the cities under consideration.

“We do sit in a bit of an underdog role, on the one hand,” said John Ingram, the lead investor of Nashville's bid. “On the other hand, I’ve never really been as concerned about where you start as where you finish."

Securing a stadium remains a crucial box that is unchecked for Nashville, but the group has made important progress. The Tennessean first reported Jan. 26 that Mayor Megan Barry has zeroed in on the city-owned Nashville Fairgrounds for a future MLS stadium and is throwing her support behind the group’s bid.

Although Nashville lacks widespread notoriety as a pro soccer town, the steering committee hopes the city’s string of well-attended international friendly matches at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium show the city has a passionate fan base that can grow.

The most recent, a match between Mexico and New Zealand in October, drew 40,287 fans. In December, Nashville was named one of 14 cities that will host matches in next year's CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Detroit

Detroit’s bid is a joint venture between NBA owners Tom Gores and Dan Gilbert, who announced in April their plans for a $1 billion development at the former Wayne County Jail site that would include a 23,000-seat soccer-specific stadium.

“Detroit sports fans are some of the most passionate in the world. No where else can you find as many major league teams in the urban core than in Detroit,” Gilbert said in the statement. “Since soccer is the most popular global sport, we also hope having an MLS team will put Detroit on the map with new audiences, attracting more visitors and more residents to the city.”

On Friday, the county announced it will try to restart the long-stalled jail project. But on Monday, a statement attributed to Matt Cullen, head of Gilbert's Rock Ventures, said the Gilbert team is working to develop an offer for the jail site.

MLS commissioner Don Garber has previously stated the jail site is the preferred location for a potential MLS stadium should Detroit be awarded an expansion team.

St. Louis

Considered a favorite, along with Sacramento, Calif., for 2020 expansion, St. Louis' bid is led by Paul Edgerley, former managing director at Bain Capital.

St. Louis voters could decide whether to help the financing of a new 20,000-seat stadium April 4. A proposal first needs to be approved by the Board of Alderman on Friday, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The Post-Dispatch reports the proposal would put $60 million in city money toward the stadium, along with $95 million in private money. The ownership group also would pay for construction cost overruns, maintenance and any shortfall in the city's financial obligation if the city's funding revenue source falls short of projections.

"We’ve spent a lot of time with MLS officials and feel that St. Louis is very well positioned to be awarded a club," Edgerley said in a news release. "There is still a long way to go, but thanks to the recent progress made possible through collaboration with city officials, we are very close to bringing Major League Soccer and a multi-purpose stadium to the downtown area.”

Sacramento, Calif.

Up until Tuesday, it was all but assumed that Sacramento, with its strong ownership group and shovel-ready stadium plan, would be a lock for 2020 expansion.

Well, not so fast.

It seems there's some turmoil among the impressive group of Sacramento investors, led by Sac Soccer & Entertainment Holdings chairman and CEO Kevin Nagle. The group includes Meg Whitman, president and CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprises, and Dr. Griff Harsh, a professor of neurosurgery and otolaryngology at Stanford University Medical Center. Several local investors in the Sacramento Kings, as well as Jed York of the San Francisco 49ers, also are part of the group.

However, the role the Sacramento Republic, the city's USL team, played in the MLS expansion bid process Tuesday, or lack thereof, has created some confusion. Deadspin has more on the situation.

The club's downtown stadium plan for a 20,000-seat MLS stadium has already cleared all regulatory approvals, according to a statement by the team.

Phoenix

Phoenix is the largest city in the country without an MLS team.

The investment group is led by Berke Bakay, the chief executive officer of Kona Grill, along with former Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon McCarthy, now with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Phoenix group revealed a plan to privately fund the building of a new, climate-controlled, soccer-specific stadium on a 45-acre site that is under contract. The soccer complex will include the club's academy, as well as light rail access for fans.

“We offer MLS the largest population of Millennial and Hispanic soccer fans, and the most TV households," Bakay said in Tuesday's release. "Phoenix is also the only expansion market without an existing MLS team within 400 miles. It’s time for the MLS to come to the southwest and rise with our fans in Phoenix.”

Raleigh/Durham, N.C.

A group led by North Carolina FC owner Steve Malik has confirmed an expansion bid has been submitted for the Raleigh/Durham area. Formerly the Carolina Railhawks of the North America Soccer League, NCFC rebranded in December with an eye on MLS expansion.

The area has been one of the fastest growing regions in the country for over a decade, giving it the highest growth rate among MLS-contender markets.

In the statement announcing the official expansion application, North Carolina FC noted it would reveal more information about its stadium plans in the coming weeks.

San Antonio

San Antonio's bid is led by Spurs Sports & Entertainment, which runs United Soccer League side San Antonio FC. The seventh-largest city in America with a population of 1.4 million, San Antonio often has flirted with the MLS, but never crossed the finish line.

SS&E negotiated an $18 million deal with the city and Bexar County to purchase Toyota Field in 2015, where San Antonio FC currently plays.

“The only reason we did this deal was to get to MLS,” Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, told MLSSoccer.com. “There was no other reason.”

Cincinnati

An attendance juggernaut in the United Soccer League, FC Cincinnati currently play at the University of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium, but will look to build a soccer-specific stadium if granted an MLS expansion.

By month's end, the franchise is expected to provide a list of greater Cincinnati sites to MLS where a new soccer stadium and related facilities could be built. Jeff Berding, team president and general manager, has declined to comment on the sites that will appear on the short list.

“We have our eyes wide open here," Berding told The Enquirer in November. "We have said, 'OK, here's a map of Greater Cincinnati. Here's the river. Here's UC. New stadiums are approximately 20 acres. We live in a pretty dense urban environment, a historic urban environment. Where would 20 acres even exist?' "

Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Tampa Bay Rowdies jumped from the NASL to USL this offseason. Now, they've set their sights on MLS. And they went big on trying to make an impression at MLS HQ on Tuesday. Owner Bill Edwards brought a packet filled with more than 200 letters of support from local politicians, and roughly 30 co-workers and friends to present the bid. During their pitch, the group proposed an expansion of Al Lang Stadium into an 18,000-seat facility.

The MLS has called Tampa home before. The Tampa Bay Mutiny were an original member of MLS in 1996, but folded in 2002 amid ownership concerns.

San Diego

You think San Diego wants another pro franchise after being jilted by the Chargers?

While most of the expansion bids were hand-delivered in New York, MLS commissioner Don Garber received the San Diego delegation's paperwork aboard the USS Midway in San Diego, joined by the city's mayor Kevin Faulconer and U.S. national team icon and MLS star Landon Donovan.

San Diego's proposal includes a privately-funded 30,000-seat stadium where the former home of the Chargers sits. The local ownership group includes former Qualcomm president Steve Altman, technology entrepreneurs Massih and Masood Tayeb (co-founders of Bridgewest Group), San Diego Padres managing partner and local investor Peter Seidler and sports media executive Juan Carlos Rodriguez.

"Any city can really come out and support our league but it seems like we have something very special in San Diego," Garber said at Monday's battleship ceremony.

Charlotte, N.C.

Charlotte sports entrepreneur Marcus Smith, president and CEO of Speedway Motorsports, officially submitted the bid despite the Charlotte city council recently canceling a vote on a proposal to spend $43.5 million on a soccer stadium, putting its bid in limbo.

Per the Charlotte Observer, Speedway Motorsports executive Mike Burch said the group will ask the city for the original request of $43.75 million. Burch added that he believes council members ultimately will vote for subsidizing the project.

“The city is trying to put forth tourism dollars, and we think this is a great use of those dollars,” Burch told the Observer. “Every day that goes by that we’re not putting our best foot forward is a day we potentially risk falling behind."

The Tennessean, Detroit Free Press, Arizona Republic and Cincinnati Enquirer contributed to this story.