A soccer league failing here won't make MLS more likely to put teams in the markets that couldn't sustain the much cheaper CPL. (And Cavalry attendance is exactly middle of the 7 CPL teams, despite being in one of the bigger markets.)
MLS is already at 29 teams, with multiple viable expansion contenders:
- Phoenix - 3.3 times Calgary's metro population; USL Championship team draws 1.8 times the Calgary CPL team
- San Diego - 2.2x population; NWSL team draws 2.5x
- Detroit - 4.4x population; USL Championship team 1.8x soccer draw
- Sacramento - 1.6x population; 2.8x soccer draw
- Las Vegas - 1.5x population; 1.6x soccer draw, apparently the leader in MLS expansion plans.
That's a lot of cities well ahead of us (and I didn't mention Tampa, Indianapolis, Louisville, San Antonio, Raleigh), in the musical chairs, with one empty seat left and perhaps a couple more in the next decade.