Get ready, Nashville soccer fans.

Major League Soccer officials are coming to Nashville where they're expected to announce Wednesday that Music City has been awarded a new expansion franchise, capping Nashville's meteoric rise from an underdog to leading contender for the new club.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber, Nashville Mayor Megan Barry and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam are among those set to attend what the league called an "important announcement" at the Country Music Hall of Fame at 4 p.m. Wednesday. John Ingram, lead investor of Nashville's expansion group, will also be present.

An MLS2Nashville "Thank you" reception will follow the announcement. Taylor Twellman, a soccer analyst for ESPN, will emcee the gathering.

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Nashville, along with Sacramento, Cincinnati and Detroit, have been vying for two spots that the league plans to fill this week. The league's board of governors discussed expansion and the four bids last week at a meeting in New York and finalized a decision in the days that followed.

“We are excited and optimistic about the future of soccer in Nashville," Barry, who partnered with Ingram to bring MLS to Nashville, said in a statement. "We look forward to hearing more tomorrow.”

Historically, MLS holds celebrations in the chosen cities to announce expansion decisions.

The expected pick of Music City concludes a year-long expansion process in which Nashville overcame initial long odds to catapult up a list of 12 contenders for one of the league’s 25th and 26th franchises. It's unclear which other cities MLS has tapped for expansion, or whether the league will only pick Nashville.

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MLS sees Nashville as a city on the rise with strong ownership

Over the past year, Nashville emerged high on the radar of MLS, which had an eye on the city’s rapid growth, development boom, red-hot brand and budding soccer community. The league was attracted to a city on the rise as well as a strong local ownership group.

Steadily, Ingram, controlling owner of Nashville Soccer Club and a billionaire businessman from one of Nashville's most prominent families, enhanced the city’s proposal.

He brought on the Wilf family, owner of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, as minority owners, and secured public funding for a $275 million soccer-specific stadium last month at the city's fairgrounds.

Along the way, Nashville last summer broke attendance records for soccer matches in Tennessee with a pair of high-profile matches at Nissan Stadium including a CONCACAF Gold Cup match. The Nashville Predators Stanley Cup Final run last spring provided another boost as the world watched a nontraditional hockey market pack downtown streets to watch each game on large projection screens.

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When Nashville team would begin play unclear

Ingram and his ownership group would have to pay a $150 million expansion fee to enter the league.

It's unclear when Nashville's future MLS team would begin play, but MLS has said it wants two new teams by the 2020 season. That's in addition to a new team in Miami, which is targeted to be MLS' 24th franchise.

At his state of the league address last week, Garber indicated that timeline could change and one team could move up and start playing in 2019.

For Barry, Nashville's new MLS team would mark a political victory after she put her political capital on the line by proposing the stadium deal.

The Nashville Metro Council voted 31-6 last month to approve the mayor's proposal, committing to $225 million in revenue bonds for a new $275 million, 27,500-seat stadium that the city plans to build on the Metro-owned fairgrounds two miles south of downtown.

The project includes a 10-acre mixed-use private development on fairgrounds land with bars, restaurants and a hotel aimed at transforming the underutilized fairgrounds to boost the fan experience.

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The stadium isn't scheduled to open until 2021, however, meaning the team would need to find a temporary home for one year.

Under the stadium arrangement, the team would lease the facility from Metro for 30 years. The Ingram-led ownership group would pay $9 million annually to help Metro retire $13 million in yearly debt. Revenue generated from a ticket tax and sales tax collections at the stadium are designed to pay off the remaining $4 million in debt.

Many supporters of the fairgrounds have opposed the stadium and adjacent development, which would dramatically overhaul the 117-acre site. Barry has vowed to keep the fairgrounds' existing uses — including the annual state fair, auto racing and flea markets.

In a boost for Nashville's expansion hopes, Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle on Monday dismissed a lawsuit from the advocate group Save our Fairgrounds filed against Metro that sought to block the stadium plans.

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Future stadium-related votes still remain in council

Even if Nashville lands an MLS franchise, the council would still need to sign off on additional legislation, including for the demolition of existing buildings on the fairgrounds, to make the stadium a reality. A land re-zoning for the mixed-use development is also required.

Expanding to Nashville — which carries some risk because Nashville has never fielded a pro soccer team — would make MLS the third major league sports league to locate in the city, joining the National Football League and National Hockey League.

Both the Tennessee Titans and Nashville Predators have been supportive of Ingram’s push for MLS.

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Nashville’s pro soccer journey began in May 2016 when Nashville was awarded a United Soccer League franchise, Nashville SC, which is set to begin play this spring even with the expected granting of an MLS club.

In August 2016, Nashville businessman Bill Hagerty — now U.S. ambassador to Japan — launched a committee of around two dozen business and political heavyweights to try to bring MLS to Nashville.

Although Nashville was already primed for a USL franchise, Hagerty argued then that Nashville faced a fast-closing window if it ever wanted MLS, and that the city had to move immediately.

From afterthought to expected MLS city

Nashville was playing catch-up against cities such as Sacramento and St. Louis, which had been seeking an MLS club for multiple years.

Quickly, Nashville's ownership group began to form.

Ingram, chairman of Ingram Industries Inc., signed on last December as controlling owner and lead investor of Nashville’s MLS bid. He purchased the rights of Nashville SC in May.

Along with securing the stadium financing, Ingram's emergence was arguably the most significant ingredient in Nashville's bid. His involvement gave Nashville’s application the direction and financial support of someone with deep ties in the Nashville community whose connections span business, philanthropy, higher education, college athletics and politics.

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Last December, Nashville was named one of 10 cities in the running for MLS expansion. The number later rose to 12.

With Nashville playing catch-up to other cities, Ingram from the outset embraced the tag of “underdog” in the expansion pursuit. But as the city’s proposal strengthened, that label quickly faded.

Multiple cities, including San Diego, St. Louis, and Charlotte, faced setbacks with their local governments in landing public funding for new soccer-specific stadiums. It created a path for Nashville, and Ingram capitalized.

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