[tarheel1231]

Raleigh bid

Charlotte bid

Obviously as a Charlotte native, I'd rather see Charlotte get the team since it's a center for both Carolinas. An MLS team could probably pull an audience from South Carolina a la the Panthers. But I'll support the team in either city they play in. In the meantime, go Atlanta United FC.

[Jonathan]

I don't see either city getting selected this time around. Too many other bids are further along than theirs. Raleigh doesn't appear to have a real stadium plan and Charlotte couldn't get the city council to go along. Hopefully some day. I think it would be a much better fit in Raleigh, which is a huge soccer area and has a pretty successful second division team.

[Merthecat]

Charlotte clearly has the better stadium plan, in my opinion (no one really knows where the stadium in Raleigh could or would go), but Steve Malik, the owner of NCFC, has also recently acquired a women's soccer team and a local youth development league. He's supposedly planning to finance the stadium himself, with only infrastructure costs going to the city. So in some ways, I think Raleigh has an advantage. And, as a resident of the city, I'd prefer Raleigh receive a second major league team rather than Charlotte a third/fourth (if you view NASCAR as one).

But, I'll support either team if they come. I feel confident that one of the cities will be awarded the franchise.

[Jonathan]

I think Cincinnati, Sacramento, San Diego, St. Louis, Tampa, and Detroit are all likely ahead of both Raleigh and Charlotte in the expansion order. Unless there's something from either bid that is being kept under wraps I would be shocked to see either get selected unfortunately.

[Axel]

not good...

International Champions Cup opts against returning to Bank of America Stadium for a fourth consecutive year.

Unknown is whether not hosting the ICC will hurt a current bid to bring an expansion Major League Soccer team to Charlotte. MLS executives last year selected Charlotte as one of 12 cities vying for an expansion club, pointing to the success of recent ICC matches here as a significant factor.

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2017/03/21/charlotte-shut-out-of-international-soccer-for.html