I have no idea why there isn't more MLS interest in Saint Louis. There are like 15 St Louis area players in the MLS (Brian McBride went to St Louis U, and Taylor Twellman is actually related to one of my friends!). There really isn't a question of public interest, just of where they would play. I'm not sure if the Edward Jones Dome would be large enough, but maybe something could be worked out by having the team play on the soon-coming baseball stadium.
i was always perplexed to see that MLS never mentions St. Louis when they talk about soccer. I would think with the soccer players that come out of St. Louis that the market would be good out there.
Well.. there isn't much of a market there. They couldn't keep a PDL or DIII team alive in the St.L for crying out loud. No investor, no stadium, no fanbase. Next. Sachin
No fan base? For someone who I think knows a thing or two about U.S. soccer you are showing an appauling lack of knowledge about soccer history in this country.
Even if you had the fan base, where is the investor? Where is the soccer specific (or at least friendly) stadium? Then we'll talk.
the 'no fan base' argument is among the most insipid in existance - this the the town that put between 14 & 18K in indoor soccer seats for several years (anyone remember the steamers?), not to mention it is the historical cornerstone city of US soccer as for the other 2 points, no argument here... HOWEVER, MLS has (quite strangely) never shown the slightest interest in st. louis - perhaps if it seemed like a viable expense, somebody or some bodys would step forward with a proposal - im just sayin maybe - businessmen arent much on throwing cash at a presumaby lost cause truth is, the city should have been in the league's initial thoughts, but has been overtly ignored to date - very puzzling
St. Louis needs an investor and a stadium. I think SLU's stadium could be expanded to a little over 20,000, but I guess thats where the investor would come in. It is amazing, bluedaddy, that the Steamers could sell out the Arena. The Blues could only dream of drawing that many at the time. If KC can draw what it has been, St. Louis has the fanbase.
There's plenty of POTENTIAL investers... Kroenke and Laurie would probably be at the top of the list, their only problem would be the amount of power they'd really have in their investment... Stadium isn't really that big of a deal, some place could be found... NY/NJ doesn't exactly have a nice stadium, so why should St.Louis?... The American Center, EJ Dome, or Busch could be used, hell Busch used to host football games... The fan base would probably be one of the best in the league, and the packaged rivalry with KC and Chicago would create some nice competition... It's really quite a shame as St.Louis is a top 5 sports town that supports its teams and are loyal patrons... Basically its MLS's loss not to have a team in St.Louis... Any arguement against is just pure ignorance...
That was then, this is now. If the Loo is full of all these soccer fans, then why couldn't the minor league team draw enough to stay alive? I have nothing against St. Louis and really do understand their place in American soccer history. But for whatever reason, it seems time has passed them by. Hopefully I'm proven wrong, but unless and investor and stadium show up, I doubt I will be. Sachin
Maybe if/when the Cardinals build their new cozy ballpark, there would be some corporate thought of a pro soccer team as a tenant when the Cards are out of town for added revenue. Not a fan of cross-ownerships, but it seems a logical supposition. Better than playing in the huge dome, anyhow. Agree that it's a shame St. Louis isn't, for whatever reason, on the current MLS map given the town's storied soccer history... amateur, semi & pro. It was typical NASL front-office suicide in moving the old Soccer Stars to Anaheim back in the late '70s. In St. Louis, they had solid media coverage, over-the-air TV & radio of games. Accepted as part of the sports scene. Their 13,000-17,000 per game would be envious compared to California Surf turnouts. Guess the owners panicked upon realizing they were among the NASL's 23 Dwarves to the league's Snow White Cosmos & went for a quick fix for the illusionary West Coast gold. An unfortunate product of the NASL not lifting a finger to prevent the sudden death of franchises like St. Louis & Minnesota is that it destroyed solid pro soccer fan bases. Time... a generation... marched on, and now such areas are again like virgin territories for major league soccer, necessitating marketing from scratch for it to work. Enough on the soapbox. Here's wishing circumstances bring about MLS consideration for Soccer City USA in the near future.
St Louis's NASL team had consistently lower fan support than many other cities (6,000 to 8,000 per game) throughout the 70s... the move to Anaheim increased fan support to over 10K per game... St. Louis has been a mecca for producing players and for the success of INDOOR soccer with the Steamers, etc... there is nothing special about St. Louis's fan support for an outdoor major league team. Next, please.
I love it, I love it!! I actually did my sports marketing project during my senior year on MLS expansion to St. Louis. My group did an in depth probability study that did a helluva job going down to the most minor details about a possible team there. I love the idea. Someone email me on Sunday and remind me to bring the CD to work so I can post the logo and some of the stuff we came up with. We had a few good stadium options. SLU's soccer stadium is quite capable of expanding to 20K+, the only trouble would be parking in that area. There is also some land out in Chesterfield near the Blues training facility with plenty of room for parking lots. The area is still growing, but its kind of swampy out there. As for investors, I'm curious why MLS has never contacted the Busch family about it. They are a long time corporate partner that have spent alot of money in the league already. A-B also has a vested interest in soccer in Missouri as the Anheuser-Busch soccer club is THE most successful youth soccer club in the state. They have a beautiful facility on the SW side that could be upgraded and expanded for an MLS training facility.
Re: I love it, I love it!! Since A-B is a long-time corporate partner, what on earth makes you think they haven't discussed it? I think St. Louis WOULD work for MLS. However, MLS can't be trying to blatantly create vaporware when what they need are investors with real commitment. The key to ANY city getting a team is somebody truly making it work.
It's hard for a minor league level team to compete in a major league city, especially since teams at that level are extremely limited in their marketing budget. An MLS squad would probably have 10 times the marketing budget of a PDL or D3 team, maybe larger, and could reach most, if not all, of the soccer fanbase. We have the same problem in Atlanta, with the Silverbacks. They don't advertise outside of their website and e-mails, except very rarely, and the local newspaper gives only lip service support becasue they are lower level, and because we have a so-called "major league" soccer team in the Beat (which the company who owns the newspaper happens to own as well). Minor league level teams do better in smaller cities, or cities with no major league presence to speak of, or at least they're supposed to Your points about the investor, and stadium are both valid, however. It's the main reason there aren't 16-20 teams in MLS right now.
The key to getting an expansion team is having someone in your town willing to put up the bucks for a team and a soccer specific stadium. Anheuser-Busch has never indicated any interest in owning an MLS team. The Wal-Mart boys (Kroenke and Laurie) have never indicated any interest in owning an MLS team. If any of them wanted a team, I'd bet MLS would give them an expansion franchise on the spot as long as they built a soccer stadium. St. Louis would make a great MLS town, but without an investor/owner coming forward, we'll have to wait.
STL Soccer The fan base is strong and STL is a great soccer city historically. The problem is no facility. The Dome wouldn't work at all, and the MLS is looking at soccer friendly places, not a giant stadium like Busch. Maybe at Fenton or somewhere else in the 'burbs. Don't judge based on NASL attendence, promotion was real different from market to market, and in the end the league failed and I suppose a finger could be pointed at ALL of the teams. MLS is a different animal altogether, thankfully. St. Louis is an awesome sports city all around.
Anyone who has the argument that the fan base isnt big enough in st louis is totally screwed up. You should see the response to soccer here. All of the select teams and all of the private teams that have set up. All of the indoor winter leagues you have, I have friends that set up their won league just because they wanted to play. In all of the highschools soccer is the most recieved sports. The number one team nationally for girls is from STL. St Joes. St. louis is big on catholic schools and if you go to a catholic school you are automatically associated with soccer. All of the churches have little leagues for the kids. This place revolves around soccer in the spring and fall. I understand what they are saying about needing a stadium. SLU is an idea, but I think you could find someone to sponsor building one. Sure it wont be anything like the Home Depot or what they have got going there, but it would be a start. I think that the Anheiser Busch would help sponsor a team. Has noone ever heard of the Anheiser Busch soccer park they already have set up? Thats where all of the division soccer games take place in the State Tournaments. There are too many big soccer names that live here. Did anyone not hear them mentioned in the game against mexico? Im sure they would all help in donations. People who came from here and players who came from here would most likely support. I wouldnt be surprised if you couldnt get a lot of the private teams to start fundraisers and things. I know it wont get that much but it will all begin to add up. There are people who would want a team here. And once the team comes this would probably be where the biggest fan base is in the MLS. They will get profits from ticket sales etc. Theres no reason why their shouldnt be a team here. A-B would probably sponsor and so would a lot of other companies that are soccer based here in STL. The people want it here. Look at the indoor leagues and how many people go to those games. Little kids role models here are the Ambush. (sp?)If they brought a team here the people would come. STL has the best attendance under any sport, baseball football and even hockey, Bring it and the people will come and make it work.
Sachin, I really don't think you understand much at all about the history of soccer in St. Louis. Nothing could be further from the truth that soccer has passed St Louis by. It is thriving here at all levels other than @ the professional MLS level and that is due to the area lacking one very vital element. Funding for a Stadium. Simply put the guy running the St. Louis Knights just did not have enough money! He was a regular business man that was doing it for the thrill of running a team and his love of the game. The Knight games were fairly well attended for USISL levels drawing about 1500 per game with very little advertising and almost zero advance notice that a team was being compiled. They appeared and poof they were gone but not forgotten. Brian Kamler, Matt McKeon and Steve Ralston all worn the Knights Jersey for a game or 2. You do have the lack of investor and stadium part right.