urbanSTL

joelo wrote:There still could be a city vote, SC STL waited too long to get this submitted and now they have to wait.

sounds like Slay administration is asking for SC STL to reduce the city ask so we'll see where this goes and whether SC STL even proceeds if they feel state aid isn't viable. Anyway, I hope that it does get to the point where the public (throughout the Metro) gets to vote on it, but I want the BoA to vet it thoroughly to make sure it is a reasonable/responsible plan and not send it over to voters if the Board felt it was not.

One of the big companies in STL should invest with little city help. But I think our chances of a team now are at Zero


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I think SC STL's response and actions in coming days will tell a lot about their true intentions.

I have little doubt that Kavanaugh, Peacock and the other owners from St. Louis do have the city's best interest at heart, but take a look at the rest of the ownership group. The majority owner would be a guy with no area connection who gained his wealth from Bain Capital - a notoriously cutthroat, money-first investment firm. There are also a couple of his buddies at Bain in the group, and a couple other business men from around the country with no local ties.

I get the impression that the promise of $120M in public funds may have had a significant influence on their decision to get involved. That would explain why the reduced expansion fee didn't alter their demand for public funds. It also explains why they wouldn't consider the offer of the Foundry group (whether it was legit or not, which no one knows). They also could have scaled back their stadium plans, but again, that wouldn't have given them the same amount of equity.

I think many people give this ownership group a free pass due to the local faces, without considering where the real money is coming from, and who is really pulling the strings. I hope I am wrong about that.

It looks like our chances for team 25 or 26 are all but gone, but 27 and 28 are still a possibility, but that might require a whole new ownership group. And I'm not convinced that MLS will stop at 28. They have claimed they were stopping expansion in the past. I think 32 teams will happen in fairly quick succession.

Ingrassia said on the radio today that the city is willing to go 60 mil but 80 is too much. If we are only talking a 20 mil gap, I feel better about things.

San Diego just became a major contender.

^ I think there is a little bit of irony there that LA Chargers will be playing on an MLS field next year.

They picked the MLS stadium because there is no way they could even remotely fill the Colosseum lol

^^ That may be the case, but they will have no easier time getting ANY public money out there either. Now, saying that, SD should be able to find big-money investors, considering the place is a major tourist destination, has great weather and a large Hispanic population. The time for MLS in STL is now. The competition is only going to get tougher each round.

Very interesting interview with Ald. Ingrassia yesterday that has some info I hadn't seen elsewhere...

http://insidestl.com/st-louis-alderwoma ... te/1984946

And $80 million is too much for the city to take on?

“From the figures I’ve run along with the mayor’s office…we were much more comfortable at $60 million. That would’ve been a revenue-neutral financial proposal.”

That should hardly be insurmountable for SC STL... I guess the bigger question is what to do with the state funding, but if that can get settled I wouldn't count out a vote in a special election.

i agree that competition will only increase. san diego will probably be in the 27-28 round, along with either detroit, las vegas, or nashville. If we dont get in this round, we wont get in at all. that said, im not going to die if we dont get a team. It would be a tremendous step in the right direction if the region as a whole could get behind a project like this

As an STLFC supporter, this whole deal sucks. I trust Kavanaugh completely, but I can see how people feel uneasy about Edgerley given he isn't a St. Louisan and has ties to Bain.

Having to spend $150 MM on the franchise fee instead of working STLFC up in an open system sucks, but we have to gain promotion by the ways available. I'm frankly NOT a fan of MLS for a whole bunch of reasons, but I can see the good in moving up from the USL to MLS. A lot of what you see in the MLS process is due to MLS having a flawed system of franchising as opposed to an open pyramid of promotion and relegation like most other soccer playing nation-states.

Not sure how they plan on getting any funding from the state especially with the Greitens budget coming out showing over $146 million in budget cuts including $66 million just from higher education. Either SC STL needs to get the county involved or pay up privately. Greitens isn't changing his stance and I don't expect him too either at this point

^ I would city leadership trying to get county on board a soccer stadium is low on the priority list nor do I think the county has any inclination to join the part no matter what the circumstance. High on the priority list should be getting City, County and Business leadership on board and moving Convention Center upgrades forward.

State on its race to the bottom and the region probably fortunate to at least have Wash U & SLU right now

Competing groups, looking to bring MLS to Nashville, discuss merger. This could bode well for their bid and hurt STL's bid. Our group needs to get it together, somehow!

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/ne ... erger.html

^ Seems like wherever the Nashville group wants to put this thing is being put under wraps pretty good.... and it appears the local Metro gov is looking at more of a traditional package for funding using revenue streams at/near the stadium to pay for their unknown investment. That's something we need to get closer to here. Anyway, sounds like Nashville still has some work to do before anything can be said to resemble a clear proposal.

Also, fwiw, over in Detroit it looks like the billionaire pro sports owners teaming up on that effort don't have a clear site either and seem to be dropping the county jail site as an option... they may be more of a latter candidate than this first round.

STLEnginerd wrote: ↑

Jan 18, 2017

STLrainbow wrote: ↑

Jan 17, 2017

^ Seems like wherever the Nashville group wants to put this thing is being put under wraps pretty good....

Wouldn't they just use the Titans stadium?

MLS wants their own Soccer Specific Stadiums. Most football stadiums are too big to hold an MLS team. Doesn't allow high demand for tickets. If there is easy access to tickets people tend to put off getting tickets and not attend events.

SC STL to release a statement today. Sounds like the board bill is back up. Wonder what's changed if anything


http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metr ... c6ec7.html

edit: article has been updated, $60 million from city instead of $80 million

^ sounds like the city ask would be down to $60M from $80M and maybe more private $$ coming in, I guess we'll see,

New details on MLS stadium plan as debate is set to begin


http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news ... s-set.html

Sounds like things are getting chippy in the alderman meeting about it. Conway and Ogilvie getting into it.