MLS still considering Montreal expansionsocialcommentssocialcomments News Sports Entertainment Radio TV My Region Member Centre Login Sign UpHalifax (Shearwater) Change City7c Tomorrow1c Flurries or rain showers Hockey Headlines Scoreboard Standings Stats NHL Schedule Teams Players Hockey Night in Canada Highlights Fantasy Pool FIFA World Cup Vancouver Now Football Headlines CFL Scoreboard CFL Standings CFL Stats CFL Teams NFL Scoreboard NFL Standings NFL Stats NFL Teams NFL Players Video Alpine Skiing Curling Figure Skating Basketball NBA Scoreboard Standings Stats Teams Players Basketball News Feed Baseball MLB Scoreboard Standings Stats Teams Players Baseball News Feed Soccer MLS Scoreboard MLS Standings International Stats Soccer News Feed Amateur Sports Golf Tennis Auto Racing LICENSE EMAIL PRINT Text Size S M L XL REPORT TYPO SEND YOUR FEEDBACK MLS still considering Montreal expansionLeague commissioner visits city meets Impact owner mayorLast Updated Wednesday December 9 2009 426 PM ET Comments13Recommend29By John F Molinaro CBC Sports Montreal Impact players celebrate after beating the Vancouver Whitecaps to win the USL First Division championship final in October (Graham HughesCanadian Press)It would appear Major League Soccer is getting serious about expanding into MontrealMLS commissioner Don Garber was in Montreal on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of the league putting an expansion team in Canadas secondlargest marketGarber spoke with Montreal Impact owner Joey Saputo Tuesday night and then the two met Wednesday morning with Quebec Finance Minister Raymond Bachand and Montreal Mayor Gerald TremblayWe continued our discussions with the Saputo family about a future MLS expansion team in Montreal and had very productive meetings with Minister Bachand about securing funding for the expansion of Saputo Stadium Garber said in a releaseWeve stated many times that Montreal would be a great market for MLS and we look forward to continuing our discussionsSaputo echoed Garbers sentiments declaring The arrival of MLS in Montreal is only a question of time The Impact owner said he hoped to have news about the possibility of landing an MLS franchise in the first quarter of 2010The seconddivision Impact currently play their home matches in Saputo Stadium a 13034seat venue that opened in 2008 Its believed that the earliest Montreal would be welcomed into the league would be the 2012 MLS seasonNews of Wednesdays meeting is the latest chapter in a soap opera that has been going on for some timeMontreal was one of the frontrunners to join MLS in 2011 as one of two expansion franchises but the team pulled out when Saputo and former Canadiens owner George Gillett hesitated to pay the $40 million US expansion fee (which was later dropped to $35 million)This past August Garber said the Saputo family must secure public funding to expand ...