Expansion

Report: After stadium financing vote, St. Louis' MLS bid still active

St. Louis skyline

In April, St. Louis voters rejected a stadium financing plan that would’ve paved the way for a soccer-specific venue in the city’s downtown.


But that doesn’t mean that their MLS hopes are dead.


According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jim Thomas, St. Louis’ bid for an MLS team is still active. The potential ownership group, headed by Paul Edgerley, hasn’t disbanded and the league still has an open file on the city.


The Post-Dispatch reported that Edgerley and his group have looked in recent months for ways to overcome the $60 million funding gap between the $270 million the group is willing to pay and the $330 million estimated cost of a stadium and MLS expansion fee.


St. Louis has a long, storied soccer history and currently has a team, St. Louis FC, that competes in USL. 


St. Louis is one of 12 cities that applied for an MLS expansion spot in January. The league will announce two new expansion teams by the end of the year and will announce two more at a later date.