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MLS Expansion: St. Louis group announces Community Benefits Agreement

By Dan Cunningham

Dec 17, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; General view of the Gateway Arch and the St. Louis skyline and the Mississippi River. The site is the proposed location of a riverfont stadium for the St. Louis Rams to replace the Edward Jones Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 17, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; General view of the Gateway Arch and the St. Louis skyline and the Mississippi River. The site is the proposed location of a riverfont stadium for the St. Louis Rams to replace the Edward Jones Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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The topic of MLS expansion is always on, and St. Louis are no exception with their recent announcement of a Community Benefits Agreement in support of their expansion application.

What’s next?

Well, eleven other cities have also filed expansion plans vying for just four available slots.

The league’s due diligence governing expansion critiques prospective newcomers on three factors:

  1. A committed ownership group;
  2. A dedicated stadium plan (controlled by the club); and
  3. A market with a strong appetite to have soccer in it.

This is about adding teams that enhance the league. Saint Louis is doing what they can to score high in each of these boxes.

So, how do they currently fair?

They have always been high on the MLS expansion city consideration list, and moved considerably higher earlier this year following the departure of the NFL’s Rams back to Los Angeles, giving the city a very unique opportunity: to capitalise on this sports vacuum by filling it with soccer.

So capitalise is what they are doing.

And materially they are almost there.

In United Soccer League side, Saint Louis FC, they not only have an existing team in place, but prove an existing fan base is there (that same fan base also sold over 43,000 tickets for a US World Cup qualifier).

SC STL, the ownership group working to tap into soccer’s popularity in St. Louis, have so far committed to a $255 million-plus investment in a proposed downtown soccer stadium.

Now, with a Community Benefits Agreement

The group is still awaiting a formal decision from the city of Saint Louis on being granted $80 million in additional public funding to support their stadium bid, and have taken a step to ensure they receive it with the announcement of an accompanying Community Benefits Agreement (CBA).

"As MLS.com reported, the agreement includes “grassroots youth soccer initiatives like camps, clinics and equipment, minority hiring protocols for the stadium’s construction and operation, community access to the stadium for amateur sporting events and other gatherings, 100 free tickets for St. Louis youth organisations at each home game and more.”"

For now, all it is, is a plan; one which will only be put in place if their financing decision is given go-ahead in an April 4 city election.

If they get this…

… then they are well on their way to realising an MLS franchise in Saint Louis. Theirs will be a bid which not only shows the city is ready for soccer, but includes a proper home for its fans and players.

St. Louis may have lost football, but on the horizon is soccer and they are wasting no time.

Next: MLS Multiplex Podcast: Debut Episode is Here!

In order to try and build on the CBA announcement, Commissioner Don Garber is attending a rally in St. Louis on the 27th “to celebrate the city’s soccer history and discuss the MLS expansion prospects.”

The CBA has given them a head start, but only on April 4th will we know what it really means.

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