July 25, 2008 by Jeff Cooper 

I am writing from Toronto, where last night the MLS All-Stars defeated West Ham United 3-2 in the All-Star Game at a sold-out BMO Field.  The match was terrific and the atmosphere was incredibly electric, all In front of a national ESPN audience and a global news media corps.  The entire experience, which included many activities throughout the city, delivered everything Major League Soccer has been marching toward over the past several years.  Everyone is leaving Toronto today with the same impression – Major League Soccer lives up to its name in every regard.

The match was the reward at the end of several busy days here in Toronto.  I met with league officials, team owners and executives, sponsors and much more as we continue to solidify our candidacy for a St. Louis expansion team.  As you probably have heard, expansion was a key topic of discussion here, and on Thursday the league announced that it will grow to 18 teams in time for the 2011 season.  St. Louis was named as one of several U.S. and Canada expansion markets, which include Atlanta, Las Vegas, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Portland and a second team in the New York area.  We will learn more in the coming days as to the process ahead for all of the expansion candidates.  Our candidacy was received warmly throughout my stay in Toronto, and I appreciate the time MLS Commissioner Don Garber and President Mark Abbott spent with me to learn more about where we stand and express to us what needs to be done in the weeks ahead.

I want to assure all soccer fans throughout the St. Louis area that I am fully and 100 percent committed to this effort.  The challenge and opportunity are both very clear.  The progress we have made over the past year, highlighted by our fully approved stadium and soccer complex plan in Collinsville, is serving us extremely well.  Like all expansion candidates, we still have some work ahead.  We continue to have very promising discussions with parties interested in investing in our effort, and those exchanges will become more frequent and – I believe – more constructive following the announcement on Thursday by Commissioner Garber that the league is firmly committing to another round of expansion.  We will resume our work on this end immediately, and I expect progress and success.

One of the more impressive and lasting experiences here was being reminded that Toronto is also an expansion market, in only its second year of play in MLS.  They’ve done everything right in a short amount of time, and I commend FC Toronto for providing a great example for all expansion markets to emulate.  I have confidence we will soon enjoy the same experience in St. Louis, where we have the complete package for investor candidates as well as the league as a whole – an ideal geographic location, a model stadium package, a fully integrated youth soccer system , a deep soccer tradition and an educated, passionate and loyal fan base.  I trust you feel the same, and I thank you for continuing to support our efforts.  We won’t let you down.