Interesting.
Bournemouth's new American owner Bill Foley said the Premier League club was a "bargain" compared to the price to bring an MLS team to Las Vegas.
www.espn.com
Subtext… the rumor mill now favors San Diego for the next MLS expansion. The fact that Bill Foley mentioned that the league wanted a new stadium is telling. Foley might be right about MLS, but what happens if the Cherries get relegated? Put it this way, the Quebec metropolis has a 60% larger population than the Bournemouth metropolis.
I’m also reading between the lines to suggest that the people MLS decided to work with in Vegas (which wasn’t Foley IIRC) either couldn’t get the stadium off the drawing board or played bait & switch.
The folks MLS chose have few (high profile) contacts in the city/valley, much less seem to have the financial wherewithal to build stadium. Doubt they were able to find a location, much less the funding to purchase land, build stadium.
(The old Sam Boyd stadium land could be used, or Cashman Field, but would need totally new facility. SB is "way out" on the eastern side of the valley, miles and miles from the Strip/Resort corridor -- where MLB Athletics are contemplating build, and two NBA/basketball casino resorts are in/near there.)
Foley has been "around" enough that he knows the movers and shakers in the region, and has some financial backing, and many folks to ask for more, if needed. (I think MLS steered away from Foley as he proposed using Allegiant Stadium. That brings the Raiders/Davis into the sphere of influence as well.)