New Cleveland soccer MLS NEXT Pro team to be announced.

The reserve league of top-tier Major League Soccer is expected to announce on Monday that it will expand to Cleveland as the next city to gain a professional soccer team, according to sources who spoke off the record. The announcement will be made at 1 p.m. Nov. 21 at Pins Mechanical on West 25th Street in Ohio City by Michael Murphy. He led the effort locally to land the MLS NEXT Pro (MLSNP) team.

Murphy, president of independent film distributor Gravitas Ventures of Cleveland, acknowledged to NEOtrans that the MLSNP expansion will be announced at that event but said he would have no further comment until then. Gravitas was acquired last year for $73 million by Toronto-based Anthem Sports and Entertainment, a multinational media company. Monday’s announcement will precede the USA National Men’s Team playing Wales in the World Cup.

But there are still some unresolved matters regarding the planned expansion including where the new team will play. What is known is that, unlike most teams in MLSNP, it will not be affiliated as a “farm team” for a top-tier MLS club.