ST. LOUIS — As of Thursday morning, neither the MLS or the group trying to bring the MLS to St. Louis will confirm there will be an announcement on Tuesday.
However, everything is trending in that direction. Jim Kavanaugh, one of the owners of the St. Louis group, wrote to 5 On Your Side Sports Director Frank Cusumano in a text, “All is good and moving forward. Still waiting on some final pieces from MLS.”
The team would begin play in the Spring of the 2022 season. The MLS4TheLou group did their final presentation to the board of governors earlier this month. Kavanaugh said it lasted 45 minutes and everybody was impressed.
The MLS believes St. Louis has all the boxes checked. The group’s biggest strength is local ownership with Kavanaugh, the CEO of World Wide Technology and Carolyn Kindle Betz, the president of Enterprise Holdings Foundation.
The soccer history of our town and the plans for the quarter of a billion-dollar 25,000 seat state of the art stadium were also well received.
When the announcement is made next week, details on stadium sponsorship, team names and colors could be released.
The team president could also be announced. Dan Flynn, who is the CEO, of the United States Soccer Federation, is a strong candidate. Flynn, who is from St. Louis, is highly respected in soccer circles around the country.