Intro:

Major League Soccer held a press conference at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Wednesday (March 25th), to announce that Minnesota will receive an expansion franchise to start playing in 2017 or 2018.

Script:

SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Bill McGuire, Minnesota United FC Owner:

"We obviously have a lot of big visions and dreams about this and I want to say up from that it is a joint journey - it will not be something that any of us do alone, it will take all of us, it will take those that love the game, those that love the city, those that love what more we can do to make this an even greater place than all of us already recognize that it is."

SOUNDBITE (English) Don Garber, MLS Commissioner: (on why Minnesota was chosen)

"You know, it starts with ownership. Our league is driven by visionary, passionate, committed owners who believe in what this sport can be and have made enormous commitments to get it there. It's also a perfect city - it's young, it's diverse, it's hip, more people are riding bicycles here than are riding them in Brooklyn so it's a place we want to be. (They have) a perfect plan for a soccer-specific stadium with grass, outdoors. It is a combination of all those things that have made MLS successful in the past."

SOUNDBITE (English) Don Garber, MLS Commissioner: (on when Minnesota United will start playing)

"Well, you know it is as early as 2017 - potentially 2018 - but not far away so you've got a great fanbase already built here, you've got a great club, great management and ownership so they've got lots of stuff they can do over the next couple of years and we look forward to the launch."

SOUNDBITE (English) Landon Donovan, Six-Time MLS Cup Champion: (on whether the MLS is expanding too quickly)

"Well, there are people much smarter than me fortunately that make decisions on expansion. I think Commissioner Garber has done a tremendous job. The reality is is there is so much interest now in soccer in this country so you have to balance how do you help people with that interest in becoming MLS franchises versus growing too fast. From a player pool standpoint I think everybody's doing the right steps to increase the player pool in America - it doesn't happen overnight but with the introduction of all these youth academies it's only going to get better. Nowadays young kids are being coached by former MLS players - when I grew up they were coached by the baseball guy with the cap and the whistle so times have changed, players are going to get better. I don't think there's an issue with there being a lack of talent and I think the league is on a great path and we all trust that Commissioner Garber will continue to do the right thing by the league, which he's shown over a number of years now."