Expansion

MLS Commissioner Don Garber visits expansion candidate St. Louis

Don Garber - league meetings 2019

Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber visited St. Louis this week, to check in on the latest regarding the city's expansion bid.


Garber attended a luncheon with expansion bid leaders and local business owners and executives on Monday in St. Louis, with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporting he found the support for an MLS expansion team in the city "fantastic and remarkable."


St. Louis is one of several cities around the United States vying for an opportunity to become the 28th team. The proposed team, to be owned by Jim Kavanaugh and the Taylor family, both with deep ties in the local community, would like to build a stadium next to Union Station just west of downtown.


“It really checks off a lot of boxes,” Garber said. “It’s got the right support from the public sector. Everybody’s feeling good about that.”


The local reports did note that Garber said St. Louis needs to secure more corporate support to fulfill all three components of a successful bid, along with strong ownership and a good and viable stadium plan.


FC Cincinnati entered MLS this season as an expansion team, with Nashville SC, Inter Miami and Austin FC joining over the next two years.