urbanSTL

^I think time will tell what Stan's true intentions are in St. Louis. I have no reason to believe he would move the Rams, but you never know. If things get nasty with the lease situation, he could be more prone to do so. If he is TRULY committed to St. Louis, then I could see him bringing MLS here or at least facilitating that process. I'd much rather have a soccer specific venue like KC, versus the team playing in an oversized football stadium like KC used to. GC is right, without BIG money investors, it will NEVER happen. You can have a grand plan, but without money, it will never fly, as was the case with Jeff Cooper.

DogtownBnR wrote:St. Louis not on MLS radar....

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/soccer/a ... 1519b.html

I hope that a group can step up at some point, bring a team here and build a venue as great as the one KC. They built it right the first time. In turn, they have secured the team will stay there and also almost guarantee regular stops by the US MNT, traveling international pro clubs etc...... I give them credit for doing it right.
It is nice that they support STL getting a team. We'd be a natural rival for them.
I have to say, I'm jealous. I'd love to see a venue like this on the riverfront, midtown or Richmond Heights. Maybe someday......

When I first read about the new Sporting KC stadium about 6 months ago, I was really excited to plan a road trip to KC to see a game. Then I saw where they are putting it, and completely lost interest.

the central scrutinizer wrote:

gone corporate wrote:Also: How would it be if StL could get a major sports bar and fan base built by Stan Kroenke for his newly-acquired Arsenal?

Wow, I had never thought of such a thing. It's really quite clever! Open an Arsenal themed pub (downtown, of course), and commit to opening early on weekends. While there are several football pubs around town, none are really optimal.

Hummmm... "The Gunner"?

Hummmm... "The Gunner"?[/quote]

Brilliant!

And if not downtown, they could build it on.....wait for it.....Arsenal Street! [/quote]

Can we open a Red Devils bar on... Manchester?

beer city wrote:Can we open a Red Devils bar on... Manchester?

Only if we're united in agreement.

gone corporate wrote:^Primary takeaway I have from that article is that StL needs to have a strong team leadership organization in place to be taken seriously if we're going to succeed going forward. It's not that StL sucks for soccer, but that the last attempt failed, and did so because of multiple factors that were not necessarily foreseeable (including speculative real estate's collapse).

Get a few deep pockets committed, and we'll have a team long-term. No doubt. Just don't hold your breath.

Also: How would it be if StL could get a major sports bar and fan base built by Stan Kroenke for his newly-acquired Arsenal? That surely would attract more eyes to StL as a viable city for MLS.

Getting Stan K involved on any level for soccer in St. Louis would be a huge win.

GC, the connection that hasn't happened and dumbfounds me is the fact that InBev is owned and operated by executives from countries that have their share of beer drinking loving football fans!! Any thoughts on why not? It seems a pity that Bud and MSL can't make that connection for a pro franschise to happen in St. Louis which happens to have a great history of beer drinking loving sports fans.

the central scrutinizer wrote:

gone corporate wrote:TCS: Don't forget the Scottish Arms. Was there for the championship a couple Saturdays ago, full of both ManU and Barcelona fans, very crowded, good TV coverage, lots of food & beer, good times.

I forgot about them. I went there for a Cup match in 2006. I was in the big room where, sadly, there was 1 maybe 42 inch flat screen, and I was about 30 feet away. That was it. I think there might have been one or two small screens in the bar area. Maybe it's changed since then.

Same thing for a '10 WC game (USA-England). Place ran out of beer before halftime & had no remedy. Inexcusable, IMHO. Don't think I'll go back there again, sadly. Seemed like it could be a cool hang out spot, too.

Also, I went there for an'06 WC game (USA-Ghana) and they had one TV then, too. But the game was at like 8am and they had breakfast food there. That was pretty neat.

wait a minute so we want the Rams to leave St. Louis but we're going to ask Stan Kroenke for an Arsenal Sports Bar?

That aside, I could really dig an Arsenal Sports Bar in an 'STL Live' like establishment akin to 'LA Live'.

A sports empire in St. Louis is the leverage St. Louis has when it comes to negotiating with Stan. We've all seen the Forbes article on Stan, the Blues need an extra tenant in addition to an owner and St. Louis needs time beyond 2014 if Kroenke can expect any public financing at all for a new rams stadium.

The Blues, an extra tenant for Scottrade, an STL Live entertainment complex that includes an Arsenal Sports Bar, a Regional Sports Network (Blues, Cardinals, Rams, "the extra tenant", and Arsenal Games) could/should be enough to buy St. Louis some time.

Kroenke can't build this empire in LA he can't build it in NY he can't build it in Chicago. I know you people would rather go after being the curling capital of the midwest but if you build this empire on the west end of Clark (@Union Station) you have the 'greatest street in all of sports'. We're talking namebrand, instant recognition, Fifth Avenue, Hollywood Blvd, The Magnificent Mile, Broadway....Clark Avenue.

Interesting perspective:

http://www.insidemnsoccer.com/2012/04/0 ... ro-soccer/

^Agree!!

Hopefully, a new facility, like KC's will be built here someday and the Soccer Park will be out of the discussion for any Pro team.

That article actually made me sad, except for talking about Al Trost, when I was 6 I thought him and Lou Brock were the coolest guys on earth.

Whatever happens the soccer park is a terrible location and bad to get in and out of, I don't see it being upgraded to MLS standard.

A few rumors bounced around back in January, local investors, NASL team etc... i have no specifics. If we are looking for an MLS team, nothing in the near future, unless some one with deep pockets really wants a team in St. Louis, Garber will not do us any favors.

For those who follow, the WPS is taking a "year off", I take this as redemption about the implosion of the Athletica.

"KC has a beautiful facility (at least from photos), but a terrible location."

KC's stadium is gorgeous and amazing. St. Louis would be lucky to have someone like Neal Patterson take charge and get the project done. As to the assertion that the location in KCK is terrible: I would have to say its location isn't horrible (unless you define horrible as anything that isn't urban).

At first thought I hated the idea and would have preferred an urban stadium near the Kauffman Center. Upon further thought I changed my mind because, as stated on here ad nauseum: not all stadia work in urban areas (football: Arrowhead Stadium = sea of parking & 'successful', Edward Jones Dome = super block dividing/impeding downtown = failure). While soccer stadiums only hold 18-22,000 people, they only have 17 home games a year ... a suburban setting seems the best spot a facility with this frequency of use.

In KC specifically, yes the site was basically a greenfield, but it is close to its prime demographics (Johnson County - rich suburbs & KCK - hispanics) yet only 11 miles from downtown. As far as transit, a BRT route is being implemented between it and downtown. It is far from being isolated: located next to Kansas Speedway, a minor league ball park, a casino, new amusement Park (Schlitterbahn) and a major shopping center. For reference it is located at the intersection of I-435 and I-70, which is same distance due west from downtown KC as the intersection of Lindbergh & I-64 is from downtown St. Louis (hardly Wentzville distance wise.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Village_West

My pick for a soccer specific stadium in STL would be part of a new sports complex which would also contain the new Rams football stadium and other small destination/attractions (possibly minor league stadium, theater or some other family attraction). Location: at any of a few locations along I-270:
*Chrysler Plant @ I-270 & I-44 (large, high profile site with great highway access - near (not adjacent to) proposed commuter line), or
*Earth City near I-70 & I-270 (also near Rams Park, Casino, Riverport and relativity easy Metrolink connection) or
*The Mills near MO-370 @ I-270 (near large shopping and entertainment center similar in composition to KC's Village West) or
Non I-270 Location:
*Gateway Raceway (Close to/views of downtown, ample parking, near I-70 & I-64, close to Metrolink, existing (former) entertainment destination).

These spots have existing highway access and can have rail access (except Hazelwood) easily with ample room for parking. Also the extra draw of having football and soccer stadia could foster development as the Speedway/Shopping area in KCK fostered (specifically new office and super-regional destination attractions). The target demographic is mainly coming from St. Louis County and St. Charles County, hence the I-270 locations.

the central scrutinizer wrote:

tbspqr wrote:

"KC has a beautiful facility (at least from photos), but a terrible location."

KC's stadium is gorgeous and amazing. St. Louis would be lucky to have someone like Neal Patterson take charge and get the project done. As to the assertion that the location in KCK is terrible: I would have to say its location isn't horrible (unless you define horrible as anything that isn't urban).

Terrible = any stadium where there isn't at least a couple of bars within a 2-3 block walk.

Exactly, Hands down that is why Wrigley Field was worth the trip as a bachelor living in the Chicago area over the new Chomisky Park at anytime. Of course, I'm an American Leaguer who grew up the Twins Fan and the only reason to go to a White Sox game is to see them lose. Same could be said for my new home int the Bay area, ATT Park is a much better environment to watch a game then going to Oakland.

As far as football, its about tailgating and Ram's has an unique opportunity to create a great experience if they would advocate the removal of the raised section of I-70 in my opinion. The sea of parking is about owners wanting parking revenue simply put and a reason in itself that Fenton sight in most likely on Stan K's mind - confined and everybody pays him once they get off the freeway. Which gets to my next question for the rest of you.

Does Stan K proposing a retractable roof at Edwards Dome in order to have a grass field help Soccer in St. Louis? Think that is how you get support for $110 soccer stadium for the foreseeable futre.