Local Business Leaders Exploring MLS Expansion in St Louis
The MLS expansion group includes Bill Dewitt and Jim Kavanaugh.
Nine local business leaders have announced that they are exploring potential stadium sites for an MLS expansion team in St. Louis. The team is known at the MLS2STL group and contains some of the biggest figures in St. Louis.
Best part is that @SaintLouisFC is involved and won't be cut out. Still have more work to do, but a positive step. pic.twitter.com/54SuyuDEuR
— St.Louligans ☠️ (@StLouligans) February 17, 2016
The biggest figure of the group is Bill Dewitt Jr., owner of the St. Louis Cardinals. Dewitt has experience growing a national brand; during his tenure as Cardinals owner, Dewitt has increased the valuation of the team almost 10 times over to $1.4 billion. The team also includes Dave Peacock, the leader of efforts to keep the Rams in St Louis and Jim Kavanaugh, the owner of St Louis FC, the USL team currently in the city.
The last of those is perhaps the most important. Kavanaugh knows the ins and outs of the convoluted American soccer system, and has built STLFC into a not-insignificant factor in the St. Louis sports scene. His knowledge and connections will be invaluable as the team looks to find a suitable site for a stadium. The work will be 100 percent privately funded and will not require a single dime of public funds.
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It should be noted that this is an exploratory group, not an official ownership group. That said, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that most of those names pop up when an ownership group solidifies.