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They’re back! St. Louis MLS Expansion Bid Rises From Ashes

By Chuck Wharton

05 DEC 2009: Messiah College takes on Washington University in St. Louis during the Division III Women's Soccer Championship held at Blossom Soccer Stadium hosted by Trinity University in San Antonio, TX. Messiah defeated Washington 1-0 for the national title. Brett Wilhelm/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
05 DEC 2009: Messiah College takes on Washington University in St. Louis during the Division III Women's Soccer Championship held at Blossom Soccer Stadium hosted by Trinity University in San Antonio, TX. Messiah defeated Washington 1-0 for the national title. Brett Wilhelm/NCAA Photos via Getty Images /
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Five months ago MLS expansion watchers pronounced the St. Louis bid deceased. The bid required passing two stadium votes, one to hike a sales tax and the second to fund the field.

Watchers pronounced the St. Louis MLS expansion bid dead once the funding measure failed, yet remained silent that the tax hike passed. Opponents told me they voted no because of only the suburbs, out of St. Louis tax-collection reach, wanted the stadium.

We had to ignore that the stadium would attract vans of soccer families, paying entertainment taxes.

St. Louis MLS expansion got quiet

Supporters got quiet in the following months. But I always sensed a bit of Daniel Boone in them. He said in 1784, “I can’t say as ever I was lost, but I was bewildered once…”

MLS

picks two expansion teams in December. The league names two more teams at a later date.

Jim Thomas, earlier this month in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, questioned how 3,300 stadium no votes could keep the MLS out-of-town. He quoted a league source that St. Louis gets the expansion if local organizers can cobble some sort of stadium deal together.

Paul Edgerly’s St. Louis ownership group keeps their file active in league headquarters.

"Thomas’s MLS source: Look, if Dec. 7 rolled around, or whatever day we have the meeting, and St. Louis had a commitment to a stadium, and Paul Edgerley and his group were sitting there, I would put it at 99 percent that they get it."

Fill gap, get team

The St. Louis ownership team commits $270 million to the MLS expansion bid. The project requires another $60 million. That’s where supporters got tangled and confused with voters in the April proposition votes.

Sam Stejskal reported on MLSSoccer.com that the league recognized the St. Louis MLS expansion bid remained alive, if quiet. And he acknowledged how St. Louis’ love of soccer made it desirable, citing St. Louis FC’s draw in USL competition.

"Stejskal: St. Louis has a long, storied soccer history and currently has a team, St. Louis FC, that competes in USL. St. Louis is one of 12 cities that applied for an MLS expansion spot in January."

Next: Raleigh's case for MLS expansion

No matter how quiet, the St. Louis MLS expansion bid remains alive. When they make their move to get the stadium deal, other expansion hopefuls should have their recorders on. St. Louis will show how to get it done.

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