Celtic FC rumored to be looking into NASL ownership

The North American Soccer League is making news in Great Britain today, with The Sun reporting that Scottish giants Celtic FC have interest in following in the footsteps of Manchester City. Celtic ownership is reportedly looking to expand their presence in the United States, and are considering the NASL as a means to do that.

SunSport understands Hoops chiefs have already kicked off initial talks with NASL officials to explore the possibility of breaking into the US game.

American sources claim Hoops officials have been in dialogue with the NASL to gain an understanding of what it would involve.

The league’s teams are mostly based on the east coast of America, with Atlanta and Boston among the cities that could host new clubs. However, NASL chiefs are also keen to build a presence on the west coast as their expansion plans gather pace.

-The Sun

I'm not against Peterson and the NASL targeting European clubs as ownership, but I'd love to see them discourage the sort of branding that we've seen with NYCFC. Celtic, on the other hand, would almost certainly want to do something similar, as they're looking to push their brand in the United States, even if there's little to no reason for American fans to bother watching Scottish soccer at the moment.

Boston would seem like an ideal East Coast market for the league to target, given that the New England Revolution play in a stadium poorly suited for soccer, which is as much of a pain to get to as Hofstra is for most Cosmos fans. It's also a large enough city that it could easily support a pair of clubs, playing in different leagues.

Atlanta, however, already has the Silverbacks, and presumably, the mention of that city was in regard to the league's search for new ownership.  I'd hope the league is further along with their search for West Coast ownership than this, as the league really needs one or more clubs in the Pacific time zone sooner, rather than later.

For the moment, this is probably nothing worth getting too worked up about, but it's always good to know that the league is still working hard to increase the number of clubs. I suppose we'll have to keep watching, and see what develops.