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Canadian cities make up nearly half of the bids for Major League Soccer expansion franchises and will face less competition than previously expected.

MLS, North America's premier soccer league, said yesterday that seven cities, including Montreal, Vancouver and Ottawa, are vying for two expansion franchises scheduled to kick off in 2011.

But the list of contenders is two cities shorter than expected after the bright-light burgs of New York and Las Vegas did not submit bids.

The four U.S. proposals came from Atlanta, Miami, St. Louis and Portland, Ore. The expansion fee is $40-million (all currency U.S.). Baseball's New York Mets suggested last month that they would bid for a franchise, but were not among the groups announced yesterday.

"It's encouraging and somewhat anxious because we're in amongst some significant ownership groups," Vancouver Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi said. "No New York City, but [FC] Barcelona [involved with the Miami bid] and the Atlanta Falcons owner [with the Atlanta bid]."

Vancouver's bid is financed by publicity-shy B.C. businessman Greg Kerfoot, NBA superstar Steve Nash, and Jeff Mallett, the former president of Yahoo Inc. and a minority owner of baseball's San Francisco Giants. Both Nash and Mallett were raised in Victoria. Kerfoot owns the United Soccer League's Whitecaps, which have won two of the past three championships.

Montreal's application comes from the Saputo family, the billionaire owners of food company Saputo Inc. and the United Soccer League's Impact. The family has is in a partnership with George Gillett, owner of the NHL Canadiens and co-owner of English soccer giant Liverpool FC.

The Ottawa bid is backed by Eugene Melnyk, owner of the NHL's Senators.

MLS's decision will come down to whether the Canadian applicants can team with Toronto FC, the league's model franchise, in landing a lucrative national television contract and national sponsorships.

The league has to determine whether it gets further ahead by maximizing its exposure south of the border, or cultivating the promising market in Canada.

"Our feeling is, if there's a joint effort to attract television and national sponsors, than the [Canadian] markets are quite appealing," Lenarduzzi said.

The Canadian cities do nothing to improve MLS's reach on U.S. television, so they must offset that deficiency by proving that more dollars are at stake on the northern front, where there are three national sports networks.

"There's interest," said Cyril Leeder, chief operating officer of the Senators and the MLS point man in Ottawa. "A national television contract in Canada is worth more if you have the four biggest cities."

Two Canadian cities are also further ahead of their U.S. counterparts when it comes to stadiums, another key factor in the selection process alongside revenue generation and ownership.

Montreal is the only bidder with a team-owned soccer-specific stadium. Saputo Stadium opened in May and can be expanded from to 20,000 seats from 13,000.

In Vancouver, the Whitecaps have announced plans to move into B.C. Place Stadium in 2011 and are also pursuing a stadium project on the downtown waterfront. Though not technically soccer-specific, provincially owned B.C. Place will undergo a dramatic renovation in the coming years, and it is expected to become a more intimate soccer venue.

"No one has seen the renderings of B.C. Place that we submitted, but if they're looking for a soccer-specific stadium, we have it," Lenarduzzi said.

Yesterday, the MLS announcement came via their website, where league president Mark Abbott unveiled the bidding cities and was asked questions about the candidates by in-house broadcasters. When asked whether expansion to Canada would conflict with the league's mandate to grow soccer in the United States, Abbott said: "I think we can do both."

Abbott cited the success of Toronto FC, one of just three MLS clubs to turn an operating profit in 2007, according to Forbes, and suggested that Canada has momentum on its side. Toronto was host of the league's all-star game this summer. The club made $2.1-million in its inaugural season.

"There is obviously a large and vibrant market up in Canada," Abbott said. "We've seen that through Toronto. We've seen that through the support of some of the USL teams up there. So, we're excited about those possibilities."

None of the U.S. cities have soccer-specific facilities. The Miami group, co-financed by Spanish club FC Barcelona, is trying to partner with a stadium project on the Florida International University campus.

Portland's PGE Park, home to minor-league baseball and soccer teams, would require "a number of renovations," Abbott said, to be suitable for MLS.

St. Louis, considered the traditional home of soccer in the United States, has failed in an MLS bid before, but has made progress on financing a suburban stadium project.

The Atlanta group has not announced any specific stadium plans. The bid comes from Arthur Blank, owner of the NFL's Falcons.