Elizabeth Donald
Belleville News-Democrat
August 15, 2007

By the time the clock hit 3 p.m. Tuesday, Jeff Cooper had been in a conference call for six hours and 47 minutes.

It was an ongoing discussion of the establishment of a women's soccer league, developed with Major League Soccer. If Cooper's proposed Collinsville stadium goes forward, he expects to add a women's soccer team to an MLS franchise.

"It would be by far the best league in the world for women," he said. "The women's team has always been a part of this; women's soccer is equally important."

And Cooper is clearly a soccer fan. The walls of his East Alton law office are decorated with soccer memorabilia, notably a large framed picture of Pele, the Brazilian athlete Cooper describes as "the best soccer player in history." Beside it is a picture of Pele and Muhammed Ali at Pele's last game.

Cooper's day job is at SimmonsCooper Law Firm, which has successfully litigated major lawsuits over mesothelioma and asbestos, as well as pharmaceutical litigation.

The 18,500-seat soccer stadium Cooper proposes is only one part of a much larger project, encompassing 300,000 square feet of office and retail space, 1,600 homes and much more.

Is it a $400 million development that includes a soccer stadium, or a soccer stadium that includes a development?

"It's all about the soccer. Good Lord, I'm not a developer," Cooper said. He played soccer "not very successfully" in college and has spent the last few years leading St. Louis Soccer United in its efforts to win a Major League Soccer franchise.

So was Collinsville the first choice? "Collinsville was the first city to respond in a meaningful way, and that always makes them your first choice," he said.

It's a long road from here to opening day. First the site plan has to be finalized, which will then lead to an incentive package -- the amount of which has not been released, including what part of it Collinsville will provide in the form of bond sales, which will be repaid with tax increment financing funds.

As for the tax increment financing district, the existing district will likely be dissolved and a new one formed, said Paul Mann, the city's community developer. The city's cost in creating that district will be reimbursed by St. Louis Soccer United, Cooper said.

There will probably be changes in the site plan before it is finalized, Cooper said. For one thing, he expects developers will scale back the 1,600 residential units. "That might be more than what Collinsville wants," he said.

The developers also are looking into helping the city with some of its ancillary costs, such as building a police substation at the stadium and perhaps even helping with a third fire station.

The cheering fans outside City Hall and lining the back of the council room Monday night are among the most ardent fans in the sport, Cooper said. Southern Illinoisans hold season tickets to Chicago and Kansas City soccer teams.

"This is the subset of folks who literally drive to Kansas City or Chicago to see a game," Cooper said.

In fact, the message board at BigSoccer.com has an entire section for the possible expansion in St. Louis, and fans are cheering the proposed stadium in Collinsville.

But are there enough of them to support a team?

Absolutely, Cooper said -- with 300,000 regional youths participating in soccer, 10 NCAA Division I soccer titles for St. Louis University and attendance at other Major League Soccer stadiums averaging more than 15,000 a game.

Cooper believes a soccer franchise will succeed where indoor soccer efforts have failed.
Indoor soccer, he said, is "a completely different sport."

"The fact that it failed is more of a testament to real soccer," he said. "It was a league that was not well-marketed, well-funded or, frankly, successful."

But Major League Soccer has established a hard salary cap with only one exception per team, developed franchises with soccer-specific stadiums so 20,000 soccer fans aren't huddled in an echoing football stadium, and has brokered long-term deals with ESPN and other media outlets, he said.

The numbers are being crunched, and Collinsville officials are still developing the incentive package and tax structures they will present to the City Council on Sept. 10. But in the meantime, Cooper's conference call went on, and he's planning for the future.

In fact, he said, he hopes to move his own office to the new stadium development.

Contact reporter Elizabeth Donald at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 345-7822, ext. 21.