Aston Villa chiefs await Las Vegas green light
Villa owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens are likely to learn by the end of next month whether they can found a football club in Las Vegas.
The billionaire duo entered into an exclusive negotiating agreement with Major League Soccer over starting an expansion team earlier this year.
MLS commissioner Don Garber this week confirmed a decision on whether to add Vegas as the league’s 30th franchise is expected before the end of April.
He said: “We do hope to finalise something in the first third of the year, giving us many, many years before that team gets launched.
“It’s not fair to say Vegas is all but done. Expansion deals are complicated in any market and going to a place that requires a soccer-specific stadium, you have to be sure that everything is aligned. I could not be more excited about working with Wes.”
Sawiris and Edens, who also co-owns the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team, were part of a consortium which last year trademarked the name Las Vegas Villans. Plans for the new club are thought to include a stadium and railway station.
The pair have overseen a dramatic reversal in Villa’s fortunes since saving the club from the brink of administration in July, 2018. Their investment of more than £400million on players and infrastructure helped Villa win promotion from the Championship and consolidate back in the Premier League.
