MLS update on Las Vegas Villains after Wes Edens makes exciting stadium comments

A decision from MLS on whether to add Las Vegas as the league’s 30th franchise is expected to be made before the end of next month, commissioner Don Garber has confirmed.

The bid to make Las Vegas the league's newest expansion club is being led by Aston Villa co-owners Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris.

Edens, a billionaire private equity investor and co-owner of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, has already detailed how he hopes to have the MLS side competing by 2026, prior to the World Cup being held in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Las Vegas is by some margin considered the favourite to land an MLS franchise, but commissioner Garber insists there are still some details to be thrashed out before any official announcement is made.

"We do hope to finalise something in the first third of the year, giving us many, many years before that team gets launched," Garber said.

"Expansion deals are complicated in any market, and certainly going to a place that requires, in this case, a soccer-specific stadium, you have to be sure that everything is aligned in the community, everything’s aligned with building a fan base, everything’s aligned politically."

Garber added: "I could not be more excited about working with Wes."

MLS is set to welcome Charlotte FC as an expansion club this season, with St. Louis City SC set to come on board in 2023.

Then, by 2026, we could see Las Vegas Villains take to the MLS, which was trademarked by Villa's owners back in June 2021. Although Edens has given no official word on such details, stadium plans are certainly in the works.

The group is eying a 110-acre stadium site located a couple miles south of the Vegas Strip, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

"If you look at the MLS stadiums that