<P> Expansion of Major League Soccer has occurred several times since the league began play in 1996 . Major League Soccer was established as the top level of professional soccer in the United States in 1993 with 10 teams and began play in 1996 . It has expanded several times since 1998 into new markets across the United States, and since 2006, into Canada . </P> <P> MLS is currently at 22 teams, with plans to expand to 28 teams . The league added its 21st and 22nd teams for 2017: Atlanta United FC and Minnesota United FC . MLS plans to add Los Angeles FC in 2018 and a Miami team, pending a finalized stadium plan . </P> <P> On January 31, 2017, MLS announced Charlotte, Cincinnati, Detroit, Indianapolis, Nashville, Phoenix, Raleigh / Durham, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, St. Louis, and Tampa / St. Petersburg as its official expansion candidates . In November 2017, MLS announced Cincinnati, Detroit, Nashville and Sacramento as the finalists for the 25th and 26th expansion teams . The winners in this current round of bidding are planned to join in 2020, with expansion fees of $150 million and are expected to be announced in mid-December 2017 . Of the 12, Nashville has been announced as one of the two expansion franchises . </P> <P> Expanding and establishing a bigger national reach is seen as essential to securing television rights fees needed to reach MLS's stated goal of becoming one of the top leagues in the world by 2022 . </P>

When will the mls expansion teams be announced