22 May, 2008
MLS Expansion: St. Louis Inching Closer Again
Posted by: WVHooligan In: MLS| MLS Expansion| News and Rumors
A lot of talk over the last couple of weeks about the next round of MLS expansion. First we talked about Portland, then Vancouver and Montreal. Today our tour takes us to St. Louis.
The hopes of a MLS expansion bid for Jeff Cooper went down a bit when they lost out to Philadelphia for the 16th bid into the league. The league stated St. Louis needed a better financial backing with Cooper. It appears though that Cooper is real close to having that backing that was asked of him.
Cooper thinks he is close to surmounting the final hurdle: getting enough investors. The stadium deal remains in place in Collinsville and awaits a final vote, which won’t happen until after St. Louis gets a team.
“We’re closer than we’ve ever been,” said Cooper, who has thought he was close before. “As you go through this process, you learn what the definition of ‘close’ really means. … I think it will happen this summer.”
He said some potential investors have local ties and others don’t.
St. Louis has wildly been considered the front-runner for the next bid into the league. MLS has stated on numerous occasions they want a team in St. Louis. It will pretty much happen whether or not people in other towns like it.
With Cooper close to getting the nod for the Gateway City, it seems like it could be only a matter of time before an official announcement is made by the league. This smells like an All-Star break announcement to me if those investors come through. Though the league could wait out and try to get two cities announced around the same time for a change.
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