Minnesota United FC takes its first halting steps as a Major League Soccer club Sunday when the team participates in the Expansion Priority Draft (1 p.m. on ESPN3, Facebook and YouTube).
With Minnesota coming into the league at the same time as Atlanta, the two teams must determine which club will have first crack at six different player acquisition methods. A coin flip will decide who gets the first selection in the first of those methods. The loser will get the higher pick in the second method, with the order reversing each time thereafter.
Minnesota has priority to sign its current players to MLS contracts, thus giving the club the chance to keep the best parts of its current NASL roster. But the team is likely to get 10 or more players from the acquisition methods that are part of Sunday's event.
For the first method, Atlanta and Minnesota will receive picks one and two in the MLS SuperDraft, the league's draft for American college players. The prize could potentially be Bloomington native and current UCLA standout Jackson Yueill, which would give Minnesota a local reason to want the first pick in the SuperDraft.
Since Atlanta doesn't already have a roster like Minnesota does, it might rather have first pick in the second method, the December expansion draft, which would give it first choice as the two teams select five players each from current MLS clubs.
The third acquisition method is the league's "allocation ranking," which organizes teams' priority to sign national-team players or other players who are returning to MLS. The current list of eligible players includes few big names who are likely to make the move to an expansion team, though. It might be more likely that the top spot in this ranking would be trade bait, for another MLS team that wants to jump the line.
Fourth, both the Loons and Atlanta will have the opportunity to claim priority on a player who is currently in either the NASL or the third-division USL. One of the acquisition methods that the two will draft for on Sunday is priority for this extra player, in the unlikely event that both teams claim priority on the same player.
The final two methods put Minnesota and Atlanta at the end of the line, rather than at the start, and won't be worth a lot. One of the clubs will be 21st and one will be 22nd for priority on the league's waiver list and re-entry draft. These exist for veteran players who are released or otherwise out of contract.