February 29, 2008 by Jeff Cooper 

Major League Soccer on Thursday introduced Philadelphia as the league’s 16th and newest team, to begin play in 2010.  And today, I am probably more confident in our chances to bring MLS soccer to St. Louis, in a new stadium in Collinsville, as I have ever been.

Before I explain, let me first congratulate Philadelphia.  Like St. Louis, the Philadelphia metro area has a strong soccer tradition and an avid, built-in fan base that in no time will make that franchise one of the premier operations in the league.  Further, the Philadelphia bid was very impressive, and to that end I commend Jay Sugarman, Nick Sakiewicz, James Nevels, William Doran and everyone involved in the Philly effort.

Major League Soccer has been extremely fortunate to have such quality expansion markets to consider in Seattle, Philadelphia and St. Louis.  I cannot, and will not, quarrel with MLS’ decision to award expansion clubs to Seattle and Philadelphia.  With Seattle and Philadelphia on board, the league is stronger today than it was a week ago, and overall MLS is in a completely new (and better) universe than it was three years ago, when I began the pursuit of landing an expansion MLS franchise for the St. Louis community.

The league has acknowledged this extremely strong pool of expansion markets and shared its vision to expand to 18 teams by 2011.  Indisputably, this puts St. Louis at the head of the class for the next round of expansion, whether it be in 2011 or perhaps as soon as 2010.  Whereas our standing in the expansion race was open to interpretation, we now know exactly where we stand.  And we know what is expected of us.

To quote Commissioner Don Garber in announcing Philadelphia on Thursday, “We continue to seek the essential combination of strong ownership, an appropriate facility controlled by that ownership, and a market with a tradition of supporting the sport.  St. Louis is one of the leading candidates we are considering and we are hopeful that all elements will come together soon for the city to join the League.”

Already, we have most of what Commissioner Garber rightfully expects of expansion clubs.  And as of yesterday, we’re now operating from the strength of being ranked No. 1 among expansion candidates.  With that comes newfound attention, interest and respect on every front – from investors, the news media and everyone associated with the league itself.  Soon, we will have it all.  And, I anticipate being able to share some news in that regard in the near future.

Please continue to spread our word and stand with us as we march forward.  We will succeed.