Major League Soccer enjoyed significant growth in 2016 and will lay out a detailed expansion plan next week, Commissioner Don Garber said Friday in his annual state-of-the-league address.

According to Garber, the MLS experienced record attendance for the third year in a row, had more television viewership than ever before and emerged as the fastest-growing major professional sports league in North America on social media, with an increase of more than 90 percent in followers over the past year.

The MLS Cup championship match Saturday night between Seattle and Toronto will be on network TV for the first time, airing at 7 on Fox.

While the pulse of MLS has quickened, there’s barely a heartbeat for pro soccer in Austin. The financially troubled Aztex, who suspended operations for the 2016 United Soccer League season while they sought a stadium solution, still don’t have any concrete answers.

Majority investor Bobby Epstein told the American-Statesman in a brief statement Friday that he had no updates or information to share and repeated his "no stadium, no team" mantra. "Austin needs a stadium," he said.

Owner Rene van de Zande, traveling from Tokyo, didn’t completely close the book on 2017 yet made it clear a second straight year without a pro team in Austin is in the cards.

"It has not been formally ruled out, but we are looking at a return in 2018," he said. "We are still in discussions with the USL about our plans and hope to give Austin soccer fans more insight soon into where this will be going."

USL officials have told the Statesman that the Aztex remain part of the league, at least for now.

The USL will have more than 30 teams for 2017 as a result of rapid expansion and defections from the North American Soccer League, which might be on the verge of collapse.

MLS also is growing, from 20 to 22 teams next year with the addition of Atlanta and Minnesota, and Garber reiterated his long-term plan of expanding to 28 clubs. He said the timeline will be laid out Thursday.

The league averaged 21,692 fans this regular season, a figure that ranks sixth globally, Garber said. The Seattle Sounders led the way, averaging 42,636 per home match.

"We’re up 40 percent in attendance from 10 years ago," Garber said. "Our merchandise sales are up 25 percent from last year, and Forbes magazine reports that value of our average franchise is up 20 percent from 2015 and 80 percent from 2013."

The commissioner said nearly 500 journalists, an all-time high, are in Toronto to cover the MLS title match, which will be shown in a record 170 countries in 90 languages.

"We’re ready to keep growing," Garber said. "There are a dozen or more North American markets who could support a team, in my opinion."