If it were every to happen, I’d rather see it downtown (NFL site north of Four Seasons, Chouteau’s Landing, or the last plan next to Union Station) but with the City voting it down last time around...I think Chesterfield Mall redevelopment has to be the most likely location for the stadium and then the County will chip in on costs (as they should have with the City proposed site).DogtownBnR wrote: ↑Jul 31, 2018I look at Garber's statement regarding MLS2STL as very encouraging.
I can understand the skepticism with what he had to say. I am skeptical as well. However, I will say this. Take it for what it is. I know nothing concrete. I've heard from a reliable individual, that there are still things going on in the background to revive MLS to STL. I was not given any other info. Whether those efforts lead to any movement is anyone's guess.
The fact that Garber is saying ANYTHING positive at this point, is encouraging.
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I still wonder how that stadium fits in with that long hotel they are building next to U.S.
Just when I think things are over I get reeled back in.
Gov's office talking to the MLS.
https://www.stltoday.com/business/local ... -top-story
Gov's office talking to the MLS.
https://www.stltoday.com/business/local ... -top-story
Did you see the follow up in the biz journal? The rumor is that the Taylor family will be in the leadership group, the won't ask for public money and want to keep the stadium in the same original location.
I did. What a change of course that would be. I also saw someone mention new law came on the books that makes private ownership more appealing since the vote.
Found it interesting about state involvement in discussions after you had the Governor & both KC and STL mayors meeting recently as well as Governor appearance at Microsoft/Wexford building grand opening. First thought, Does STL and KC finally have a Governor interested in the respective metro areas, willing to put some skin in the game for the biggest economic driver(s) in the state by far? Which would be a big change from all the recent non sense. Second thought or question for crowd, Governor office working behind the scenes to secure both, MLS for St Louis and NBA for KC? State can sell land for MLS stadium at bare minimum and no need to help build an arena on the other side of state for NBA because one is already there. A win win at very little cost to state for the Governor
The other thing that I find interesting, The Taylor family IMO doesn't really lose out if it finances the purchase MoDOT/state excess property that was put under option to former soccer group (if I understand that correctly). Cost to purchase this property is a drop in the bucket to Enterprise cash flow and the property itself as an asset wouldn't even make it as foot note on its balance sheet. More importantly, Taylor family now has a ready made site with new interchange on the way to either leverage against county as a means to secure the old family courts building (think one argument for why Centene didn't build in BPV) or build a second National Car rental campus/expansion into the city if soccer stadium falls through or heck do both, finance the stadium with National Car splashed all over as one giant billboard and add second downtown campus next door. I just don't see how Taylor family loses out if facilitates or finances the purchase of MoDOT's excess property
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I am normally skeptical, but I think it is OK to be cautiously optimistic this time around, for the following reasons:
- The venue will be privately funded.
-The Taylor family could get this deal done with no issue by themselves. Saying that, if the $60 million gap needs to be filled, with the same MLS2STL group, that is a drop in the bucket if that is all they have to contribute.
-MLS and Don Garber REALLY want St. Louis as an expansion team. Perfect regional rivals for Chicago, KC, Nashville, Cincy and even Minneapolis.
-St. Louis has a pro sports void with the Rams being ripped from the City.
-The stadium site is already there, ripe for redevelopment.
-The State of MO. seems to be on board, unlike the previous Governor (Greitens).
-MLS2STL has said recently, that they are still interested in bringing MLS to STL. If that group, along with local politicians, teams up with the Taylors, this deal can be done with ease. This venue will be a great connector between Downtown and the CWE.
There are lots of reasons to be view this as a positive development!
- The venue will be privately funded.
-The Taylor family could get this deal done with no issue by themselves. Saying that, if the $60 million gap needs to be filled, with the same MLS2STL group, that is a drop in the bucket if that is all they have to contribute.
-MLS and Don Garber REALLY want St. Louis as an expansion team. Perfect regional rivals for Chicago, KC, Nashville, Cincy and even Minneapolis.
-St. Louis has a pro sports void with the Rams being ripped from the City.
-The stadium site is already there, ripe for redevelopment.
-The State of MO. seems to be on board, unlike the previous Governor (Greitens).
-MLS2STL has said recently, that they are still interested in bringing MLS to STL. If that group, along with local politicians, teams up with the Taylors, this deal can be done with ease. This venue will be a great connector between Downtown and the CWE.
There are lots of reasons to be view this as a positive development!
Yes. Some tax law. I don't exactly know the details, I just saw someone talking about it on twitter.
I agree. I am hopeful.DogtownBnR wrote: ↑Sep 27, 2018I am normally skeptical, but I think it is OK to be cautiously optimistic this time around, for the following reasons:
- The venue will be privately funded.
-The Taylor family could get this deal done with no issue by themselves. Saying that, if the $60 million gap needs to be filled, with the same MLS2STL group, that is a drop in the bucket if that is all they have to contribute.
-MLS and Don Garber REALLY want St. Louis as an expansion team. Perfect regional rivals for Chicago, KC, Nashville, Cincy and even Minneapolis.
-St. Louis has a pro sports void with the Rams being ripped from the City.
-The stadium site is already there, ripe for redevelopment.
-The State of MO. seems to be on board, unlike the previous Governor (Greitens).
-MLS2STL has said recently, that they are still interested in bringing MLS to STL. If that group, along with local politicians, teams up with the Taylors, this deal can be done with ease. This venue will be a great connector between Downtown and the CWE.
There are lots of reasons to be view this as a positive development!
I think between this and a proper Jefferson interchange (and hopefully Grand/64/FPP/Market reconfigured or ramps deleted) the street grid around there would be helped out a lot to connect DTW to Midtown to CWE.
Yes, I'd like to add to this. The current governor has been a big surprise in a positive way. I never expected it from someone who was born and lives in rural Missouri, but he does seem invested in working with the state's major metro areas after years of neglect by the state government. The surprise was particularly positive in the current context of partisan politics; my prior when Greitens resigned was that Parsons would be one of those dual issue Mike Pence types (God and AR-15).dredger wrote: ↑Sep 27, 2018Found it interesting about state involvement in discussions after you had the Governor & both KC and STL mayors meeting recently as well as Governor appearance at Microsoft/Wexford building grand opening. First thought, Does STL and KC finally have a Governor interested in the respective metro areas, willing to put some skin in the game for the biggest economic driver(s) in the state by far? Which would be a big change from all the recent non sense.
Maybe it is due to his more advanced age and lack of interest in national politics, but he does seem to have an objective function that is more aligned with that of the median Missouri voter (who is an urban voter). This is in sharp contrast to the previous governor, who was clearly using his governorship as a jumping pad to national politics to the detriment of Missouri constituents (particularly urban ones).
I came here to post the exact same thing! I was impressed (gobsmacked) with the KC/STL 'summits,' and the undoing of Greitens' cuts to education, Wexford and this. I think we finally have a governor who understands the importance of the urban areas.
I worked in the State Senate during the previous legislative session, and while I only met then Lt. Gov. Parson a couple times, I never once doubted that he would make a much better Governor than Greitens. I may disagree with him on a lot of political issues, but he is a man of integrity, and he does not have it out for the state's urban areas like many Republicans in Jefferson City.
Anyone with knowledge of what the new option for MoDOT property might involve? or the details of what hoops have to be jumped through? Assumed it would be easy to sell state land back to the city but understand their is probably a fair share of laws on the books governing transactions.
https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... adium.html
The city of St. Louis is working to obtain a new option to buy property owned by the Missouri Department of Transportation for a Major League Soccer stadium.
https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... adium.html
The city of St. Louis is working to obtain a new option to buy property owned by the Missouri Department of Transportation for a Major League Soccer stadium.
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This is the board bill that Cara Spencer put forth. Basically allows a ticket tax to be collected to go to support future upgrades of the facility.
https://nextstl.com/2017/11/summary-bb1 ... -upgrades/
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/gov ... 0d7a1.html
I believe at the time these articles were written it was still in process, but I remember her saying if MLS decided to come back they would have a much less evasive means of raising money to build a stadium.
https://nextstl.com/2017/11/summary-bb1 ... -upgrades/
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/gov ... 0d7a1.html
I believe at the time these articles were written it was still in process, but I remember her saying if MLS decided to come back they would have a much less evasive means of raising money to build a stadium.
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Not sure the MLS revenue split from TV but a ticket tax is not going to generate a lot of excitment from an ownership group. I mean really they could add to the ticket price and pay for it out of revenue and it would be effectively the same. They want a big slug of free money from the state and local governments. How big and which governments is negotiable.pattimagee wrote: ↑Oct 03, 2018This is the board bill that Cara Spencer put forth. Basically allows a ticket tax to be collected to go to support future upgrades of the facility.
https://nextstl.com/2017/11/summary-bb1 ... -upgrades/
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/gov ... 0d7a1.html
I believe at the time these articles were written it was still in process, but I remember her saying if MLS decided to come back they would have a much less evasive means of raising money to build a stadium.
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Well, I believe the idea is that the ticket tax would be able to back a bond that would allow them to front some portion of money they need to help bridge the gap.
In under 20 years at Sporting KC they've sold over 5M tickets (not counting post season tickets - and at their smaller stadium), and considering some of these ticket taxes are 6-10% taxes, you're talking a decent amount of money. Add in some concerts and events throughout the year, and its not hard to see getting close to that 60M figure.
And even if they don't need the 60M and they get it from the Taylor's this is a good way to start a slush fund to help with seat expansions if it takes off in 10 years.
In under 20 years at Sporting KC they've sold over 5M tickets (not counting post season tickets - and at their smaller stadium), and considering some of these ticket taxes are 6-10% taxes, you're talking a decent amount of money. Add in some concerts and events throughout the year, and its not hard to see getting close to that 60M figure.
And even if they don't need the 60M and they get it from the Taylor's this is a good way to start a slush fund to help with seat expansions if it takes off in 10 years.
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I certainly agree that they'd prefer free money, but . . . it certainly seems that businesses prefer to pass off costs for upgrade as taxes rather than price increases. That's pretty much the point to all the "special taxing districts" you see everywhere. I'd think of it as a sort of enhanced $9.99 beats $10.00. (By a lot more than a cent.) People don't seem to think about taxes, by and in large, before making purchase decisions. And even when hit with one higher than expected they usually don't back out. I don't recall anyone ever bailing on the 30% tax I had to stick on their hotel rooms back in the day that made the $89 room darn near $120. Folks complained sometimes. But as I recall they all sucked it up. So I think the two are pretty different from a business owner's standpoint. It's really damn dirty pool, but it works. The day you require businesses to include all the taxes in the sticker price all of this will change. Fast. But until then . . .STLEnginerd wrote: ↑Oct 03, 2018Not sure the MLS revenue split from TV but a ticket tax is not going to generate a lot of excitment from an ownership group. I mean really they could add to the ticket price and pay for it out of revenue and it would be effectively the same. They want a big slug of free money from the state and local governments. How big and which governments is negotiable.
That said, free money would still be a lot better. If they can get it. But it's a real incentive, I should think. Especially if it comes with a built in bond that somebody else will insure. (Not positive there, but if the arena is still civic and the team is merely a tenant it would probably work out that way.) I expect even the Taylors would consider that something of an incentive.
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Sounds like they are announcing the new ownership group. I would expect its the Taylors. It will be interesting to see what else comes out.
EDIT: Sounds like Jim Kavanaugh is also.
https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... dging.html
The Taylor and Kavanaugh families said Monday they’d like to own a Major League Soccer franchise in St. Louis, to play at an “overwhelmingly privately financed” stadium just west of Union Station in the city.
The Taylor and Kavanaugh families said Monday they’d like to own a Major League Soccer franchise in St. Louis, to play at an “overwhelmingly privately financed” stadium just west of Union Station in the city.
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I really don't like the 'Lou part. Anyone from/living in St. Louis call it that?
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It's only temporary until they hire an agency to brand everything. Also Nelly calls it the Lou, lol.