According to a report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the city’s mayor, Lyda Krewson, confirmed that a local group is in active pursuit of an MLS expansion team.
“I know there is a group trying to bring a team here. We are hopeful that will come to fruition,” read the mayor’s statement.
A state official also told the Post-Dispatch that the administration of Missouri Governor Mike Parson is “interested in working on a stadium proposal” for a potential MLS team, with representatives from the state’s Department of Economic Development meeting with league executives earlier this week.
Details regarding potential stadium sites, timelines and investors were not revealed in the report.
A prospective ownership group previously proposed a 22,000-seat downtown stadium near Union Station, but was unable to secure a share of public funding after an April 2017 vote.
In a recent interview, MLS Commissioner Don Garber indicated that St. Louis was still in the mix for an expansion team and a league spokesperson provided the following statement to the Post-Dispatch: “We continue to believe that with the right ownership group, stadium plan and support from the corporate community, St. Louis could be a successful Major League Soccer market.”
The impending additions of Cincinnati, Nashville and Miami in the coming years will take the league to a total of 26 teams and MLS has formally stated its goal of adding another two expansion in the future with a number of cities in the running.
