News: Expansion Bid News - catch all thread

Thanks for the replies. It was getting sad and lonely in here. Now it's just sad

 

Soccer gets another shot in St. Louis as family that owns Enterprise launches bid for MLS team

For those who thought the city’s ambitions of becoming a Major League Soccer town died at the ballot box last year, there is hope — and its name is Taylor.

A multi-generational cohort of the founding family of global car rental behemoth Enterprise Holdings is making a bid for one of the last two planned MLS expansion team slots. The Taylor family members forming the group would make the team majority-owned by women, the first in the league and one of few women-controlled ownership groups in all of professional sports.

https://www.stltoday.com/business/l...al&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=LEEDCC

 

St.Louligans @StLouligans 17m17 minutes ago
Locally Owned.
Privately Funded.
Majority Female Ownership.
Saint Louis FC Included.

https://www.kmov.com/news/mls-thelo...cle_bfa6daca-cbe3-11e8-8e5a-af5324e350aa.html

#MLS4theLou

 

https://twitter.com/MLS4theLou​

 

Taylor family to lead new effort to bring MLS to STL.
Would be first woman-owned team in the league.
Let’s do this.

#MLS4TheLou

 

The announcement by @MLS4theLou:
Goal is to begin play in 2022.
Plan does not include citywide taxes (heavily privately financed).
100% STL-based ownership group.
New stadium coming to downtown.#MLS4THELOU Full details ➡️ pic.twitter.com/jEi1GOncwu

— KMOX Sports (@KMOXSports) October 9, 2018

 

It's nice to see a 'Kavanaugh' working hand-in-hand toward the empowerment of women for a change.

*ducks head and runs away*

 

I was wondering who would end up being THAT guy - congrats!!!!

 

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Lets make it happen!! Thank you the Taylor Family for stepping up in a Big Way!

 

Interesting. Symbolically it would be a huge win for US soccer.

 

I have mixed feelings about this now. After so many failed attempts to land a team, and after the whole Rams fiasco (and the football Cardinals one before that)and seeing the same thing play out now with the Crew, I don't have a lot of good will toward MLS and their artificial franchise scarcity model. Having said that, I'm not sure where the Taylors were years ago, but I'm glad they're jumping on the soccer bandwagon now. I don't live in St. Louis anymore, but I hope they get a team this time, and if I have to pick one MLS team to root for, that will be the one.

Do you get the sense that this ownership group would be an ambitious, competitive one in the current MLS landscape? I think they could be sort of a rich man's SKC/RSL-type club if they want to go that route. They already have a massive youth soccer club and the USL setup, so that would be a pretty natural step.

 

Legit worries.

No franchise is fated to be in their city forever after all.

 

None of the people running MLS will live forever, after all.

 

Why St. Louis Just Became The Leading Contender For A Major League Soccer Franchise

https://www.forbes.com/sites/prishe...a-major-league-soccer-franchise/#21ae46d37c9f

 

I don't have a read on their "soccer ambition" just yet, but I have no doubt there will be a heavy emphasis on fielding a team with as much local St. Louis talent as possible.

That formula worked for the US World Cup team in 1950, and for SLU in the 60's and early 70's, and for the Steamers in the late 70's and early 80's.... but the rest of the country has caught up now.

 

I'm a proud WashU alum myself, but I wouldn't put our players on the level of SLU and SIUE. X'-D Maybe on the women's side, but not the men's.

Worth noting that ACSTL and the initial STLFC rosters also were very homegrown-heavy... And a STL team has yet to see a playoff entry. We're on the bare cusp this year, but there's only one player (Fink) who's seen significant minutes while also having STL connections before their time on the team.

 

I hope this time is successful for St. Louis. Their soccer legacy is such that keeping them out of MLS seems criminal.

 

True, and there's only one spot left