Jack Bell
New York Times
November 17, 2007

WASHINGTON — … Or Collinsville, Ill.

Seattle is in Major League Soccer for the 2009 season, the league’s 15th team. But which city — Philadelphia or St. Louis — will land the 16th.

The early money was on Philadelphia, a bid that included a plan to build a public/private complex in Chester, Pa., in a depressed part of Delaware County along the Delaware River. Philly appeared to have the inside track (particularly since FC Barcelona of Spain was considering the construction of a player academy in the area). But now, the bid is close to being derailed because the Pennsylvania State Legislature has not voted to provide $45 million in state financing for the project. The legislative session ends on Dec. 15, not to be reconvened until early next year. Any delay past the end of 2007 would make it nearly impossible for the Philadelphia group to complete completion in time for the start of the 2009 season.

The Philadelphia bid is being directed by Jay Sugarman, chief executive of the New York-based iStar Financial; James Nevels, a Pennsylvania businessman; the developers Christopher and Robert Buccini, and David Pollin; and the lawyer William Doran. The project would be built on 12 acres, and include retail and residential components. The projected cost of both the stadium and expansion fee is estimated to be $600 million.

By contrast, the effort outside St. Louis to build a commercial/residential complex in a 400-acre horseradish field in Collinsville, Ill., about eight miles east of St. Louis, is ready, willing and more than able.

“If we get the call from Don Garber, we will have shovels in the ground the next day,” Jeff Cooper, the chairman of St. Louis Soccer United said during an interview at M.L.S. Cup. “We’re ready and we’re not going away. If it’s not 2009, it’s 2010 or 2011. St. Louis is soccer city.”

Cooper, a partner in the international law firm SimmonsCooper, with offices in London; Mumbai and Dehli, India; and Beijing, said that the $400 million development project is poised to be built on the 400 acres of a mixed-use development that will include 300,000 square feet of retail, 200,000 square feet of office space, two 120-room hotels, 1,200 residential units, 85 miles of scenic trails, an 18,500-seat stadium, and eight floodlite synthetic turf and grass training fields at the intersection of two Interstate highways.

Cooper’s plan appears to be well thought out. St. Louis Soccer United has already obtained the rights to operate a women’s team in the new professional league that plans to begin operation in 2009 and would share the new building with an M.L.S. team. The group has already brought three prominent club teams — Scott Gallagher, St. Louis S.C. and Metro United — and has 7,000 youth players under its umbrella as profit-making entities that would comprise the new club’s youth development program. A new M.L.S. team in St. Louis could cost Cooper a $30 million entrance fee, a number that M.L.S. is under pressure from the league’s board of governors to raise higher.

The main stumbling block for the St. Louis group is its over all capitalization. Some M.L.S. owners have told Cooper to find additional investors, while other M.L.S. owners are reluctant to welcome a club led by a group of lawyers into their club.

And while M.L.S. Commissioner Don Garber said during his state of the league address on Friday that cities from Atlanta to Vancouver, British Columbia, are in the picture, league officials have intimated that St. Louis, Philadelphia and New York (where a second team would be operated by the Wilpon family, which owns the Mets) are at the top of the list … right now.

“St. Louis is considered a front-runner for future M.L.S. expansion,” Garber said. “We are big believers in St. Louis. It has a rich tradition dating back to the 1950 World Cup.”