The revitalized North Carolina Football Club will play its first game of the 2017 season on Saturday, with a partnership with youth teams and a bid for Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise still in the works.

The men’s team opens Saturday at WakeMed Soccer Park at 7:30 p.m. against Miami FC.

But, will WakeMed eventually host an MLS match? The bid for MLS franchise remains ongoing. At a press conference on Monday in Durham, Malik stated that the process will continue, and be fluid.

“This is a process that will go on for quite some time,” he said.

Malik said that the club is still analyzing three sites, one of which would be WakeMed. But the process takes time due to dealing with government entities. A downtown Raleigh stadium, which would put the team in the middle of the millennial’s the club wants to attract, but would require cooperation from multiple bodies.

“There are so many factors. It’s a big hill to climb. You want to get it right. You want to build the grassroots, build support,” Malik said. “We do have multiple options we are working.”

MLS is planning to extend the league and add four clubs with two in the first stage with an expansion fee of $150 million and then a second stage with two more clubs. Charlotte is also bidding for an MLS franchise.

North Carolina FC is looking forward to link the massive youth organizations in the Triangle, CASL and TFCA, with the club and is hoping that the move will appeal to the MLS decision-makers.

Malik said that the club has got 14,000 youth players, and had great response from TFCA as well as CASL. We are working these opportunities hard.

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