MLS: Why St. Louis is an exciting expansion city
On Tuesday, MLS Commissioner Don Garber officially confirmed that St. Louis would be the next expansion city, hosting the 28th franchise in 2022. Here is why it is an exciting choice.
As has been widely reported and expected for some time now, on Tuesday, it was made official: the city of St. Louis will have a Major League Soccer team.
On Tuesday, MLS Commissioner Don Garber unveiled St. Louis as the latest expansion city. The team, which is yet to be named, will start play in 2022 and will be the 28th team to take to MLS, after the inceptions of Nashville SC and Inter Miami next season and Austin FC in 2021. In a statement, Garber said:
"“It is with great pride that we welcome St. Louis to Major League Soccer. St. Louis is a city with a rich soccer tradition, and it is a market we have considered since the league’s inception. Our league becomes stronger today with the addition of the city’s deeply dedicated soccer fans, and the committed and innovative local ownership group led by Carolyn Kindle Betz, the Taylor family, and Jim Kavanaugh.”"
While this decision has been rumoured for some time, it is still an exciting moment, both for the MLS community and that in St. Louis, as Carolyn Kindle Betz, who will lead the ownership group, was keen to portray.
It remains to be seen how St. Louis will welcome MLS into its midst over the coming years, but the early signs are extremely promising for a city that is craving another major sports team after the departure of the NFL’s Rams in 2016.
The bid is built around a city-central stadium. It will be soccer-specific, which have been the magic words for MLS in recent years, especially with the inexorable success of LAFC and their Banc of California Stadium, and is situated next to historic Union Station, in downtown St. Louis, just five blocks from Enterprise Center, the home of the St. Louis Blues. It will also be privately funded, allaying any concerns that a reliance on public funding could scupper the deal.
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Moreover, St. Louis is a soccer-infused city. Catholic youth teams purveyed the city over 100 years ago, several current professionals include Will Bruin (Seattle Sounders), Joe Willis (Houston Dynamo), Tim Ream (Fulham), Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen) all herald from St. Louis, while there is a growing corporate market for the sport also. There is an eagerness for an MLS team in St. Louis, and now there will be one.
Finally, this will be the first female majority-owned MLS franchise, and one of only a handful in professional sports. This is a terrific step for female sport. While the World Cup success of the USWNT was a major stepping stone for women’s soccer in the United States, having women in positions of power in the male version of the sport is a major milestone. If that is not exciting, I do not know what is.
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How St. Louis embraces soccer and MLS remains to be seen. There is still a long way to go, of course. But this is a momentous occasion for MLS, the city of St. Louis, and U.S. soccer as a whole.