#MLS4THELOU: What’s in their plans leading to their 2022 MLS debut?

ST. LOUIS — It has been roughly eight months since the announcement that a long-awaited franchise was coming to the Gateway City. However, some people do not know what expectations they will have during the time duration leading to the team’s MLS debut in 2022.

So, what is part of their plan to reform the west side of downtown St. Louis? Here is a look:

MLS Stadium District

An updated digital press kit on the website reveals some of the steps #MLS4THELOU has been working on since the franchise announcement last fall. Here are some of their bullet points regarding their commitment to the downtown district which would be home of the 28th franchise in MLS history:

• The organizing committee has been working closely with public officials to expand the footprint of the proposed stadium site to roughly 31 acres of currently undeveloped property. This footprint expansion would include an area north of Market Street between 20th and 22nd Streets. This area would allow for better fan access and allows for the development of an urban hub surrounding the stadium that would be open year-round.
• As a part of this development which includes the immediate build of the stadium includes a district in the Downtown West area comprising of mixed-use retail, restaurants and meeting spaces that would be open to the public and visitors beyond the 17 to 20 home games during the MLS regular season.
• The franchise will be locating their team offices and training facilities within this district, due west of Union Station.

Seating and design

• There’s an open capacity threshold currently with a cap of 22,500 seats in the open-air stadium. Depending on attendance, there will be some abilities to expand seating to 25,000.
• Seating will be within 120 feet of the pitch, considered one of the very best views in soccer.
• The stadium will have many entry points from all sides, with a major entry plaza serving as an optimal pre-game gathering space. The main entry point will be less than 250 feet from Union Station.
• The proposed canopy design will be the most extensive coverage in the MLS. This will allow for heightened sound and energy from the fans, providing an amazing experience for all in attendance.
• The soccer pitch will sit roughly 40 feet below street level. This creates for a unique urban footprint with a playing field that’s below ground-level, which allows for a loud, proud and one-of-a-kind MLS fan experience.
• The stadium design allows for a strong visual connection to the surrounding Downtown West district and neighborhood.
• The stadium will become a multi-use facility, allowing for concerts, high school and collegiate events and tournaments, soccer camps and family shows among others.

The commitment to St. Louis

The St. Louis MLS ownership group is the rarest in the sporting world: majority-female ownership, St. Louis-based and have deep ties to the community — both in business and philanthropy.

The Taylor family — of Enterprise Rent-A-Car empire renown — has a long-standing commitment to the city’s revitalization. This has been proven through many philanthropic and infrastructure initiatives the family actively has involvement or has made significant investment throughout the region.

The ownership group will commit to being an exceptional club and neighbor in the Downtown West district. This includes maintaining open lines of communications with key civic, community and business leader to build an equitable and vibrant St. Louis.

Privately-funded — no taxpayer dollars involved

The entire operation is exclusively and overwhelmingly funded by private interests, with no tax dollars involved. The ownership group maintains that they have no intention to ever request city tax revenue or tax increment financing at any period of time.

The group has already made an agreement to purchase and own not just the stadium, but the land surrounding it. This allows the city to collect property taxes they have not received in decades. Regarding land that was purchased via an acquisition from the Missouri Department of Transportation, they will pay property tax based on a value assessment, which would be paid at that rate for a term fo 25 years.

The funding of the entire stadium and team facilities construction project is paid by the ownership group. No city revenues will be spent on these projects.

Requests from the city

There are some things the ownership group is working with the City of St. Louis, which they hope will be met with reasonable concessions and approvals.

Some of these include:

• Cooperation in certain special district approvals levying sales taxes on stadium patrons buying items at the stadium;
• Property tax abatement and exemptions from construction-related sales taxes, per previous discussions;
• Team exemption from city amusement taxes, similar to what their fellow sports teams Blues and Cardinals have;
• Tax exemptions consistent with incentive offerings usually given to businesses within to build in downtown St. Louis (or any other major city); and
• Requesting significantly less from the city, allowing them to receive new revenues.

The preceding was a report published by Jake Leonard from Heartland Newsfeed in partnership with Gabriel Schray from Midwest Sports Network.

For more sports news, follow Jake Leonard @JakeLeonardWPMD and Heartland Newsfeed @HLNF_Bulletin, as well as Gabriel Schray and Midwest Sports Network on Twitter @MWSNsports. Additionally, you can like the MWSN page on Facebook. You can also find Schray on Twitter @SchrayGuy.

You can also follow Heartland Newsfeed on Twitter @HLNF_Bulletin. Additionally, you can follow Heartland Newsfeed on Facebook and Reddit among other platforms.

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Jake Leonard

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Jake Leonard, a broadcast media and journalism veteran, is the editor-in-chief of Heartland Newsfeed. Leonard is also GM and program director of Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, wrestling editor and contributing writer for Ambush Sports, a contributing writer for My Sports Vote and Midwest Sports Network, and a former contributor to Bleacher Report and Overtime Heroics. He resides at home in Nokomis, Ill. with his dog Buster.

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