Major League Soccer announced on Wednesday that an expansion franchise has been awarded to Minnesota and will begin play in 2018. The announcement, held at Minneapolis's Target Field, has been expected for some time.

A ownership group is still being finalized, but will most likely include the Pohlad family, who own the Minnesota Twins, Glen Taylor, owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Dr. Bill McGuire, owner of the current Minnesota United FC, which will be the team playing in MLS.

“We are proud to welcome Minnesota to Major League Soccer,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a league statement. “The ownership group’s commitment to soccer and the community, the area’s growing millennial population and the region’s rich tradition of supporting soccer at all levels in Minnesota were key indicators that this was the right market. The passionate soccer fans in Minnesota will soon have a world-class, downtown soccer stadium that will serve as the home for the new MLS team and become a destination for marquee international sports events.”

The selling point was the new stadium in downtown Minneapolis that the team plans to build with private funding, which means no tax hikes for a city and state still paying a lot of money for the new Minnesota Vikings stadium, which is scheduled to open in 2017. The new soccer stadium will be built on a property that is near Target Field, home of the Twins, and adjacent to the spot where the Minneapolis Farmer's market is held. 

Soccer in Minnesota dates as far back to the 1970s when they were known as the Minnesota Kicks and played in the NASL. The 1990s saw the creation of the Minnesota Thunder and were successful until the late 2000s. In 2009, due to money issues and lack of fan support, the Thunder folded, paving the way for Bill McGuire to found Minnesota United FC, which plays at the National Sports Center in Blaine, a suburb of Minneapolis and the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

“I want to thank MLS Commissioner Don Garber and the league’s owners for helping us bring Major League Soccer to Minnesota,” McGuire said in the statement. “As a group of Minnesotans who love this state and have made a commitment to bring this vision to life, this is a momentous day that we’ve all been waiting for.”