urbanSTL

cant we just build it so there is extra insentive for the team to move here

No.

stl1991 wrote:cant we just build it so there is extra insentive for the team to move here

That would go over well...

Friday, August 1, 2008

Cooper, Collinsville closing in on MLS expansion teamGroundbreaking for $400 million, 400-acre mixed-use project awaits league decision

St. Louis Business Journal - by Matt Allen





Despite being passed over in February for a Major League Soccer (MLS) expansion team, St. Louis Soccer United Chairman Jeff Cooper said he is as confident as ever that Collinsville will receive a franchise once the makeup of his investor group is finalized.



Groundbreaking will occur on a planned $400 million stadium and mixed-use development called The Fields once the St. Louis area is awarded a team, possibly as soon as later this year, Cooper said.



Cooper is in the later stages of lining up investors, which, he said MLS officials told him, is the final missing piece to the puzzle. He declined to discuss how much funding is needed or to name investors who have already committed.



"The minute we accomplish that, we will have done everything asked of us," Cooper said.



Robert Knabel, Collinsville's city manager, said Cooper told him it is just a matter of time before Cooper receives the required financial backing MLS requires. Knabel said Collinsville officials have not cooled on the idea as the waiting process grows longer.





http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/ ... cus11.html

St. Louis is getting/already has a WPS team and with WPS's ties to MLS I think its almost certain for St. Louis to get a team and certainly announced sometime this year. I just looked at the stadium renderings they look incredible.



I heard the womens team and mens team are going to have the same name any truth to that? I like the idea.

Cooper's the man. He's gonna get this thing done.

Framer wrote:Cooper's the man. He's gonna get this thing done.

+1.



He definitely is the man. http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stor ... ily59.html

“Coach Barcellos will be an asset to our entire organization, contributing his expertise to not only the WPS team, but also to our extensive youth system,” said Jeff Cooper, owner of the St. Louis WPS team, in a statement. “Our area’s young female athletes, who aspire to be just like their Olympic heroes, now have an unparalleled opportunity to train under one of the world’s greatest soccer coaches.”

he just hired Brasil's WNT's coach. Very exciting. I've got my fingers crossed hoping they could somehow get Marta. My initial reaction is I feel bad for Brasil still not having a women's league but the opportunity to see Marta live is awesome.



The WPS has a real chance to become the best women's league in the world. The US women's team is a contender every WWC and Olympics so you can argue we have the best players already.



This stadium is going to get done. I can't wait until its finished.



Now if we could just lose the blues and the NHL all together.... [/quote][/url]

Arch_Genesis wrote:


Now if we could just lose the blues and the NHL all together....

There have been some really bad ideas posted on this board... but this certainly takes the cake. :maddown:

Moorlander wrote:

Arch_Genesis wrote:


Now if we could just lose the blues and the NHL all together....

There have been some really bad ideas posted on this board... but this certainly takes the cake. :maddown:

I'm not a hockey fan and the league is a mess financially, it really has nothing to do with me liking hockey or not it just goes back to St. Louis not being able to support the 4 major leagues.



Nothing personal, but hey hopefully St. Louis will see a boom in population/economy and we can all be happy.



Anywho, for anyone who sees this please go a page back and check my previous post on the Barcellos signing.

^^ interesting but I think you're jumping the gun a bit.



http://puckstopshere.blogspot.com/2008/ ... dance.html

I was emailed by Mojo Tooth and asked my opinion of this article where the NHL raves about setting attendance records in the regular season this year. Apparently 21,236,255 people "attended" an NHL game this season compared to 20,861,787 last year. The main reason to take these numbers with a grain of salt is that the NHL uses tickets distributed as a proxy for attendance. For example, if a team gives away tickets to the local YMCA so that underprivileged youths can attend games, it counts in the attendance figures whether or not all the people who were given free tickets actually attend a game.

The article does point out that the NHL increased revenue this year but if you compare the numbers to the MLS. MLS is growing pretty steadily. I don't see Soccer being a Niche sport in this country for more than 10-15 years.



My argument against the blues and the NHL is just based on the crux that, the league isn't that popular its had lockouts bad television coverage bad ownership. Also the blues haven't won more than a division title in 41 years.



The MLS/WPS will be bigger than hockey, but thats not something I'm hoping for.

It doesn't matter how the league is doing financially, it's absolutely moronic to say you wish St Louis would lose the Blues. Is it bothering you that they are there? Reminds me of the idiot who randomly entered this thread and said he didn't want there to be an MLS team because he doesn't like soccer.

^^



if the MLS is to emerge out of a niche market, with st. louis plateauing at its current population, one of our 3 major sport franchises would have to leave. It just happens to be my preference that it be the blues. Don't get your panties in a bunch boys. Its not moronic, its not out of hatred of hockey,and I do hate hockey; it would just be a necessary evil. This is mostly theoretical by the way so again I stress cool your jets.



And yes I don't think the NHL is very popular its markets are very concentrated in the east and its not very successful at reaching other demographics. It has never been in its 100+ year history of the sport. Soccer is wildly more popular across the world and I think overtime it will be more popular and profitable. I'm not calling for the blues and the NHL to laydown at this moment but if push came to shove, it would just be my choice to keep the MLS/WPS franchises. The blues have a 40 year history of losing, what would you be hanging on to?



The Hawks won an nba championship here and were shipped out 10 years later. 40 years and no Stanley cup? I beam about the cardinals and their accomplishments I have no Civic Pride whatsoever for the blues.



I'm not trying to pit Soccer vs Hockey btw.



As far as the stanley cup being the most widely watched in the past 10 years? It was the detroit redwings, I hope that wasn't a shocker for you.

TheWayoftheArch wrote:My point in the beginning, was that we can sustain a 4th sports franchise, if its soccer. I would be wary of bringing an NBA team here.

You can sustain soccer for now. I'm talking about in the near future to make room for a league on par with the NHL or greater. Maybe conversely MLS will become the 4th major sport and the blues can be a niche market. Will that somehow make you happy?

Arch_Genesis wrote: I don't see Soccer being a Niche sport in this country for more than 10-15 years.

People have been making this argument for 30 years. For whatever reason, it hasn't happened.



And why, exactly, can't St. Louis support an MLB team, an NFL team, an NHL team and an MLS team? There's just not enough oxygen in this city for both the Blues and Cooper's someday soccer team? And so the Blues should go? That just doesn't make any sense.

Arch_Genesis wrote:

“Our area’s young female athletes...now have an unparalleled opportunity to train under one of the world’s greatest soccer coaches.”

Ahem...