An ownership group has announced formal plans to bring a Major League Soccer (MLS) expansion franchise to St Louis and build a new stadium in the Missouri city.
SC STL, which is being led by investor Paul Edgerley, is also hoping to acquire Saint Louis FC, which currently competes in the United Soccer League, as part of the plans.
The proposed stadium to accompany the team would have a standard capacity of 20,000 seats, with the option to expand this to 28,500. ESPN reports the project could cost up to $200m (€188.7m/£161.1m), with a vote on public funding set to take place next April, and that the facility would be located near to West Station.
Earlier this year, MLS commissioner Don Garber picked out St Louis as one of the possible cities that could host one of the league’s planned expansion teams. The MLS hopes to have 28 competing teams by the year 2020, and Garber said St Louis is “MLS-ready”.
“With its rich soccer heritage, St Louis has always been a market of great interest to Major League Soccer and SC STL is the ideal ownership group that will provide St Louis the best opportunity for a future expansion team,” Garber said this week.
“We have had very productive meetings with lead investor Paul Edgerley and his partners and will continue to do so as they work to bring an expansion team to St Louis. Their downtown site is the ideal location for a new stadium and we look forward to helping them make it a reality.”
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