News: Expansion Bid News - catch all thread

I think they could manage that reasonably quickly, especially with budweiser

 

In the past A-B has been a national sponsor but has shown little interest in being a local sponsor.

 

During his visit in St. Louis yesterday, @MLS Commissioner @thesoccerdon told us what YOU can do to keep showing him why #MLS belongs in The Lou. Your voices are being heard – stay loud, STL! #MLS4THELOU pic.twitter.com/iJh3T4vL58

— St Louis CITY SC (@stlCITYsc) March 13, 2019

 

St Louis is headquarters for 9 Fortune 500 Companies:

https://www.tripsavvy.com/st-louis-largest-and-top-rated-employers-3137288

I think closer to 30 on the Fortune 1000.

Anyway, some/most of these companies wouldn't be logical choices for this kind of sponsorship, just because they don't sell a product to individuals who might be watching a soccer game. Centene (healthcare), Ameren (energy), Express Scripts (healthcare), perhaps?

My guess would be Enterprise Holdings, parent company of Enterprise, National and Alamo car rental companies. Privately owned by the big money family that stepped in the save the STL bid last fall. Plus Enterprise has a history of sports sponsorship. Seems like a no brainer.

 

But that's the issue MLS apparently has with the STL bid right now. They don't want Enterprise (Taylor Family) or World Wide Technology (Kavanaugh) to put up more money. Kind of a catch 22.

 

Earlier interviews with the ownership group regarding potential corporate support has indicated that although the Taylors (Enterprise) and Kavanaughs (World Wide Technology) are wealthy enough to sponsor the stadium and jersey by themselves, the league has strongly urged them to build a wider base - both to show that the entire city is behind the effort and also to lighten the overall financial burden.

 

Thanks for the correction. I'm kinda following this situation, but not as closely as I might. From the perspective of the club's owners, I'd guess it might be nice to have a company pay them for stadium naming rights/jersey sponsorship, too.

It's interesting to see how MLS continues to ratchet up the pressure on expansion teams. Downtown stadium - check; deep pocketed local investors - check. But now you need to have lined up jersey and stadium naming rights in advance, too? By comparison, Inter Miami barely has a functioning website and they're supposed to start play next season.

 

The standards are not the same for everyone. This is not new for MLS.

Is Austin's stadium downtown? Is Nashville's?

But Cincy, Columbus, and St. Louis all need DT stadia.

 

And, of course, KC's stadium is nowhere near downtown, but has been a huge success story for that club and the league. And Seattle and Atlanta have successful arrangements that don't exactly fit within the definition of "soccer specific stadium."

Yet Don repeats his talking points like some sort of mantra.

 

There are a lot more companies willing to be part of the sponsorship than just those two. There are hundreds of nine figure companies that would take on the sponsorship roles and have been doing it for youth soccer for a very long time.

 

I think that number of companies is a bit overblown, but it would be nice if there are maybe a dozen or so that are willing to jump on board for a few million at least.

What are MLS jersey sponsorships going for these days? $4-5 million? What about stadium naming rights?

It would be great if the ownership group land not just those two big fish but also get multiple commitments for in-stadium ad deals and community level sponsorship agreements ready for the MLS BoG meeting next month...

 

They are getting that done now. Having WWT and Enterprise as the owners will help tremendously, because so many companies do business now with those two big companies.

 

We think this is much more than just bringing a @MLS franchise, we think this is foundational to the city of St. Louis.” – Jim Kavanaugh on why #MLS4THELOU is important to St. Louis. pic.twitter.com/w9XQCSV8oI

— St Louis CITY SC (@stlCITYsc) March 26, 2019

 

MLS4TheLou‏ @MLS4theLou 3m3 minutes ago
MLS Board of Governors meets today in LA. We believe expansion is on the agenda, no formal announcement expected. Our #MLS4THELOU proposal has been well received, #STL is viewed as an attractive expansion choice. We will provide updates and info as soon as it becomes available.

 

Todd Bauman‏ @ToddBauman7 Apr 11
Replying to @TheYank48 @SaintLouisMoe
But even if St. Louis is awarded an MLS expansion club, Saint Louis FC isn’t going away.
The ownership group has said that STLFC will stick around in the USL Championship.
Let the MLS team have its own identity.

 

Huge news: @MLS to expand to 30 teams. No markets picked. Still, virtually assures @MLS4theLou a spot.

— David Hunn (@davidhunn) April 18, 2019

This guy is in LA covering the meetings for the PD.

 

I think congrats are in order.

Though not official yet, the fact that Sac/STL are in advanced negotiations with MLS, the fee for #28 & #29 are the same, and that both will be giving presentations soon screams that if you & Sac check all the boxes, you are in.

Still some I's to dot & T's to cross, but I think the heavy lifting is done.

 

https://mls4thelou.com/

Renderings are out.

 

While I appreciate your superstitious beliefs, there is no such thing as a jinx.

Plus, they are not my chickens.

 

PLEASE STOP REFERRING TO THE LOVELY CITY OF ST. LOUIS AS "THE LOU."

It's degrading both to the speaker and to the spoken.

 

Huh? I’m from the Lou and I’m proud. Just like Nelly. Nothing degrading about it.

 

I think the people leading MLS4THELOU are locals.

 

I lived in the area for 20 years and I never once had to kick a stranger in the shins because they said it.