Purely hypothetical, especially since we don't even know what's going on with the Rams sale for sure. But, let's say Dave Checketts succeeds in getting the Rams. He owns Salt Lake. Stan Kroenke owns Colorado and is pursuing Arsenal. Checketts has enough backing at this point to buy an NFL team, including billionaire Gerald Ford. Could Checketts and Kroenke push some of their fellow investors to help Jeff Cooper get an MLS team in St. Louis? Allegedly all we need is money, and if Checketts and Kroenke have a group that is rich enough to own an NFL team, they surely would be able to support an MLS team. Two questions: How likely is this scenario, assuming again that Checketts is successful in getting the Rams and Kroenke stays on as minority shareholder? And how much would you support this circumstance? Personally, while I believe that it's remotely possible, I'm not excited that it'll happen, but I think it would be pretty cool if it did.
I think not likely. Checketts and Kroenke could have been doing this all along. I don't think Checketts owning the Rams would change anything at all. It might be different if it was a different venue other than the Jones Dome, one that the soccer team could share (ala Seattle), but that's not the case.
The ONLY way to convince MLS that St. Louis is a worthy market for a team, is for US to support and market AC St. Louis to show that we can provide a sufficient fan base!
Has nothing to do with it. If we get a mega-rich investor, we are in. But i don't see a mega-rich investor coming along soon.
Wishful thinking here, but with AC gone, it's pretty much all we have. Kroenke's divesting his ownership of the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche to his son after buying the Rams. My guess is a new stadium will pop up after the lease on the Jones Dome is terminated, if it's not up to Kroenke's standards (I don't see them moving to LA). Maybe he divests ownership of the Rapids to his son as well, and brings a team to STL? Who has Kroenke's number?
if we get a team in the next few years, it will be because Kroenke builds a new stadium and wants a second tenant.
Totally. Maybe MLS's flexibility on the SSS requirement can actually work in our favor for a change, like it did for Seattle and Vancouver. Anybody know if either NFL or MLS rules would prohibit Kroenke from owning a St. Louis MLS team? It doesn't seem like that would be a problem but I don't know much about it.
MLS is trying to get away from multiple teams being owned by one person, but it still is happening in MLS (see HSG with Dallas and Columbus). And since a few MLS owners have NFL teams I don't think that's an issue either.
MLS doesn't qualify as a big enough threat to NFL to be covered by their rules. In order to be permitted to purchase the Rams, he had to transfer interest of the Nuggets and Avalanche, but he was permitted to keep the Rapids. For the record, the NFL rules only apply to teams located in cities OTHER than the one in which your NFL team is located.
The full rule is that it applies to teams located in other cites that also have an NFL team. But that's irrelevant when it comes to MLS. Back in the NASL days the NFL tried to stop Lamar Hunt from owning a franchise in that league. The NFL spent many years fighting against Hunt for NASL ownership, but eventually Hunt came out on top (unfortunately the verdict happened during the last year of the NASL). From then on, soccer has had a unique exemption to the cross-ownership rules, and that remains regardless of how big MLS gets.
My understanding (as a Rapids fan) is that Kronke's main interest in the Rapids was in Developing the area around Dick's Sporting Good's Park into something like Kansas City's "Legends" area. All that was planned before the real-estate market went under and it doesn't appear that anything like it will happen anytime soon. If he could dump the Rapids, would Kronke be interested in a St. Louis team? If he can't dump the Rapids, would he really want anything to do with a second team? I really, really wish St. Louis had a team, but it just doesn't seem any of the big wallets are wanting to get involved.
This scenario wouldn't really be the same situation as with Dick's. This would assume Kroenke is going to need to fill dates at the Rams' hypothetical new stadium. An NFL stadium is an expensive building to keep up with, and the main tenants would only generate revenue there 10 dates a year. That said, I have no idea if Kroenke would want an MLS team there or not. This is all pure fantasy - or to put it a little nicer, speculation - at this point.
I guess we've seen that an NFL stadium works with tarps over half of it an a crazy fanbase like Seattle, but I just don't see it as the league's prefered plan going forward. I just don't see anyone with a big enough wallet interested in St. Louis right now, which really, really stinks as America needs a St. Louis team.
