On March 25, 2015, Major League Soccer announced it had awarded an expansion franchise to the Twin Cities and McGuire's ownership group to begin play in 2017.

[2] The team played its home games at the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minnesota, 18 miles north of Minneapolis.

Unfortunately for the Stars, they went out of the playoffs at the quarter-final stage, 4–0 on aggregate to the Carolina RailHawks,[10] after defender Andres Arango was issued a red card after just 38 minutes.

[11] The Stars announced that for the 2011 season the team would no longer be owned by the National Sports Center but by the North American Soccer League.

The United States Soccer Federation created ownership standards where the owner must have a net worth of at least US$20 million, and the National Sports Center did not meet that criterion.

[16][17] The Stars knocked off the Tampa Bay Rowdies 1–0 in the quarterfinals before defeating the first-seed Carolina RailHawks on penalty kicks after the two-legged series ended 4–4.

[21][22] The team continued a search for a new owner in the offseason [23][24][25] and opened the 2012 season with a 0–0 draw against the Carolina RailHawks at the Metrodome in front of a crowd of 8,693.

[30] The $1.2 million budget that the Stars were operating on was expanded and the staff size increased to 20 employees for the start of the 2013 season,[31] and has since more than doubled.

The team finished the season with 6 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss coming to the New York Cosmos[32] On July 19, 2014, Minnesota United FC won 2–0 over Premier League side Swansea City in a friendly match played during the break between the NASL Spring and Fall seasons that drew 9,064 fans to the National Sports Center.

However, Swansea did not field several of their top players, including Michel Vorm, Wilfried Bony, and Ki Sung-Yeung, all of whom played in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

After bringing in several promising new players during the off-season, including Cameroonian national team goalkeeper Sammy Ndjock, Minnesota United FC was a heavy favorite entering the year.

Minnesota faced the Fall Season champions Ottawa Fury FC in the semifinal where they took an early lead after a goal by Christian Ramirez.

[34] On March 25, 2015, the league announced that it had awarded the 22nd MLS team in Minneapolis to a Bill McGuire-led ownership group that includes the owners of the Minnesota Twins, Timberwolves, and Wild.

The league selected United over a competing bid by the Minnesota Vikings ownership, who sought to use the under-construction U.S. Bank Stadium as its home field.

The team made the switch to MLS in 2017, initially playing their home games at the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium.

Before 2012, the club logo was a shield in two-tone blue and gold, with a stylized star overlaid by the NSC Minnesota wordmark.

[39] Before joining the MLS in 2017, United played its home games in the 8,500-seat stadium at the National Sports Center, a 600-acre (240 ha) multi-sport complex located in Blaine, Minnesota, which in addition to the soccer stadium, features over 50 full-sized soccer fields, a golf course, a velodrome, a meeting and convention facility, and an eight-sheet ice rink, the Schwan Super Rink.

The team played its home games for the 2013 Spring Season at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis (now demolished).

A masterplan has been drawn up for the redevelopment of the broad area, including the stadium site and adjacent properties owned by RK Midway.

[44] A glass-like polymer mesh oval exterior with an overhang partially covering the field is expected to soften the noise towards the neighborhood.

These green spaces will be progressively introduced in phases as property owner RK Midway waits for existing leases on its current tenants to end.

[citation needed] Unveiled in July 2014, the club's mascot was a loon, PK, who wears the team jersey and soccer shoes.

[48] Fans sang the song "Wonderwall" by Oasis, after every home win, a tradition started in 2011, instigated by former manager Carl Craig.

In November 2013, the club became the second NASL team to announce that it would field a reserve squad in the National Premier Soccer League (Atlanta Silverbacks were the first).

Minnesota United FC Reserves began play in the NPSL in 2014 at the Bielenberg Sports Complex[52] and were coached by Donny Mark.