St. Louis made strides to joining Major League Soccer on Wednesday when it was announced that local business and sports leaders have formed the MLS2STL Group to explore the city’s candidacy for an MLS expansion team.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the group stated that they will “work closely with the staff and select members of the St. Louis Sports Commission to conduct baseline market assessments for a potential team owner or owners, including the exploration of stadium sites, funding options and overall viability of the St. Louis region as a home to an MLS expansion franchise.”
The group tasked with bringing MLS to the “Gateway to the West” includes includes Bill DeWitt III, president of Major League Baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals, Dave Peacock, chairman of the board of directors for the St. Louis Sports Commission and former president of Anheuser-Busch, and Jim Kavanaugh, owner of USL club St. Louis FC, among others.
After the announcement by the St. Louis consortium, MLS commissioner Don Garber released the following statement.
“We know St. Louis is a tremendous soccer market and are pleased to see many prominent business and sports leaders becoming involved in the efforts to bring a Major League Soccer team to the downtown area,” Garber said, in a statement released by the MLS2STL Group. “We look forward to working with the group to further evaluate St. Louis and see if it is ready for an MLS expansion team.”
The full group can be seen below:
Bill DeWitt III
President, St. Louis Cardinals
Rob Ebert
Partner, Bryan Cave
Jim Kavanaugh
Co-Founder & CEO, World Wide Technology and Investor/owner of St. Louis Football Club of the United Soccer League and the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League
Vicky Lynch
Consultant, Lynch Sports and Events
Bob O’Loughlin
President, Lodging Hospitality Management
Dave Peacock
Chairman of the board of directors of the St. Louis Sports Commission and former president of Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
Jim Powers
President, UniGroup
Jim Woodcock
Senior Vice President and Partner, Global Sports Co-lead, FleishmanHillard
Chris Zimmerman
President and CEO of Scottrade Center, Peabody Opera House and the St Louis Blues
