Major League Rugby

FrankRider · PostFeb 04, 2022#12022-02-04T21:18+00:00

The attached article mentions St.Louis and Chicago to be joining Major League Rugby next year as the 14th and 15th teams.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/ ... SApp_Other

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pattimagee · PostFeb 04, 2022#22022-02-04T21:32+00:00

That's cool!

Laife Fulk · PostFeb 04, 2022#32022-02-04T21:37+00:00

While the article doesn't speculate on this - I will. Most likely will play in the MLS Stadium?

eee123 · PostFeb 04, 2022#42022-02-04T22:00+00:00

Aren't soccer teams really particular about field conditions? Rugby would tear up the field, and during the MLS season.

SeattleNative · PostFeb 04, 2022#52022-02-04T22:06+00:00

Laife Fulk wrote:While the article doesn't speculate on this - I will. Most likely will play in the MLS Stadium?

There have been rumors about a rugby stadium at DeSoto Park.

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_nomad_ · PostFeb 04, 2022#62022-02-04T22:59+00:00

^^ I can't imagine the soccer team investing this much in their new field and letting either a rugby or american football team tear it up on a regular basis. It would be nice if they could play in the dome (combined with a potential XFL return it'd be nice to see the building get good use), but I have no idea if that venue is anywhere near appropriate for their needs.

chriss752 · PostFeb 04, 2022#72022-02-04T23:52+00:00

SeattleNative wrote: ↑
Feb 04, 2022
Laife Fulk wrote:While the article doesn't speculate on this - I will. Most likely will play in the MLS Stadium?
There have been rumors about a rugby stadium at DeSoto Park.

The Stadium at DeSoto Park I've seen the plans for. It would be a multi-purpose facility for Rugby, Concerts, and Public-School sporting events. Had an interesting design too. With this announcement, I expect there will be some news on it in the coming months.

dweebe · PostFeb 05, 2022#82022-02-05T02:03+00:00

They tore up and dug down a bit in one of the corners of the soccer fields at DeSoto Park a few weeks ago. I wonder if this was connected.?

pattimagee · PostFeb 05, 2022#92022-02-05T02:22+00:00

chriss752 wrote: ↑
Feb 04, 2022
SeattleNative wrote: ↑
Feb 04, 2022
Laife Fulk wrote:While the article doesn't speculate on this - I will. Most likely will play in the MLS Stadium?
There have been rumors about a rugby stadium at DeSoto Park.
The Stadium at DeSoto Park I've seen the plans for. It would be a multi-purpose facility for Rugby, Concerts, and Public-School sporting events. Had an interesting design too. With this announcement, I expect there will be some news on it in the coming months.

Is that associated with the MissionSTL project that was going on up there?

chriss752 · PostFeb 05, 2022#102022-02-05T02:24+00:00

pattimagee wrote: ↑
Feb 05, 2022
chriss752 wrote: ↑
Feb 04, 2022
SeattleNative wrote: ↑
Feb 04, 2022
There have been rumors about a rugby stadium at DeSoto Park.
The Stadium at DeSoto Park I've seen the plans for. It would be a multi-purpose facility for Rugby, Concerts, and Public-School sporting events. Had an interesting design too. With this announcement, I expect there will be some news on it in the coming months.
Is that associated with the MissionSTL project that was going on up there?

What I saw was a component of Northside Regeneration, but it seemed like one of the more far along portions than some of the other stuff I saw. Not sure what MissionSTL is.

pattimagee · PostFeb 05, 2022#112022-02-05T02:52+00:00

Never mind - Desoto Park isn’t where I thought it was. Hah

sc4mayor · PostFeb 07, 2022#122022-02-07T06:14+00:00

There's a bit of chatter about this on Reddit. Sounds like it has some legs. Team will start playing at Lindenwood in 2023 and a new stadium will be built somewhere in the City in time for the 2024 season.

A trademark has been applied for the logo. Pretty badass actually, the St. Louis Knights:

https://www.trademarkelite.com/trademar ... 74656/mark

sc4mayor · PostFeb 07, 2022#132022-02-07T06:25+00:00

If anyone is interested here is the site plan that depicted that Rugby stadium previously:

shadrach · PostFeb 07, 2022#142022-02-07T13:17+00:00

Exciting!
But that came out of nowhere.

Black02AltimaSE · PostFeb 07, 2022#152022-02-07T14:48+00:00

I wonder what that means for the Sunday soccer league that has been playing at DeSoto, Liga Latina STL.

npav · PostFeb 07, 2022#162022-02-07T14:56+00:00

Wow! This really came out of nowhere, exciting to see! Rugby seems to be catching on in popularity. According to Wikipedia MLR had an average of 7,000+ fans in attendance at each game last year, which for a fledgling / not mainstream US sports league that started in 2016 is pretty good. For comparison USL (which STLFC played in Fenton until the new STLSC group) had an average of only 3,880 fans leaguewide. (2019 was 4,476 for pre-covid reference)

That logo is pretty sick and I'm always for more live sports options. That plan is for the entire Northside Regeneration project, which will be phased, correct? Assuming we won't see all that work started in 2023. Nice to see more development happening around Jefferson/Cass. That area could look very different in 10 years.

Black02AltimaSE · PostFeb 07, 2022#172022-02-07T15:37+00:00

If DeSoto Park is a city park, there would have to be a vote to turn it over for developers, right? Or could the city lease the land and have them build a stadium on it? Would that still require a vote?

sc4mayor · PostFeb 07, 2022#182022-02-07T17:16+00:00

^ Good question.

Also not quite out of nowhere. From what I’ve gathered this has had some movement for a little while now, just mostly behind the scenes. At an SLPS school board meeting in August of 2019 a 25 year ground lease was discussed for a potential rugby stadium near DeSoto Park. Seems as if us UrbanSTLers are a bit behind the 8 ball on this one.
https://www.slps.org/cms/lib/MO01001157 ... inutes.pdf

Also the husband of a potential developer on the Rugby project is tied to the Ponce Health Sciences project.

shadrach · PostFeb 07, 2022#192022-02-07T18:50+00:00

Out of nowhere for me. I didn’t know Major League Rugby existed. I remember watching a major league lacrosse game several years ago thinking that would be the new hot league. It’s fun to watch. But I think that died.

It’ll be fun to watch.

sc4mayor · PostFeb 07, 2022#202022-02-07T18:56+00:00

^ Ah, gotcha. I had a college buddy that actually played in MLR for KC, NOLA and NYC. So, I’ve had a bit of familiarity with it. He honed his skills at Lindenwood actually. I think folks would be surprised how good the program is there. Lot of Australians at Lindenwood when my buddy was playing there. Anyway, totally agree that this should be pretty fun if it they can follow through.

dredger · PostFeb 08, 2022#212022-02-08T00:13+00:00

sc4mayor wrote: ↑
Feb 07, 2022
If anyone is interested here is the site plan that depicted that Rugby stadium previously:

Thanks for posting as I can't recall seeing the site plan referenced before. A lot of square feet. it will be interesting to see if some more space is forthcoming now that the small hospital/urgent care is built (not sure if it is open for business). Recall reading in Biz Journal or maybel Post Dispatch that some more space is forthcoming. However, tough to see it being speculative but who knows if you go back to comments and discussion around geospatial developments.

Anyone with an idea of how many seats might be proposed for the Rugby stadium if this plan comes together? I think it is a win win of a deal for the city to sign a long term lease for stated improvements, stadium infrastructure. The city gains some great infrastructure in place to support Rugby going forward if all else fails with the pro Rugby League, so why not?