Voters cost St. Louis another pro team
By: DJ McGuire
Sports Editor
In the most recent municipal election, the St. Louis voters have decided that the tax was too high to vote in support of Proposition 2. This proposition as most of you know was to pass a public funding bill for the proposed Major League Soccer stadium in downtown St. Louis.
The final numbers for the vote was 47 percent yes and 53 percent no, with only about a 3,000 vote difference. The defeat of Prop 2 and the failed efforts by MLS2STL, a campaign dedicated to bringing an MLS team to St. Louis, are a huge blow to the city and soccer community of St. Louis.
This loss stings especially with the situation the city was in. It is very reminiscent of the famous quote from “Field of Dreams” — “if you build it, they will come.” If the vote did pass, the stadium would have been built and St. Louis would have had an MLS team. Even MLS commissioner Don Garber came into town and made an appearance at the Prop 2 pep rally.
With this defeat MLS2STL has no backup plan, and thus the future of MLS in St. Louis seems very bleak. There is a GoFundMe started by local fans, which hopes to raise the $60 million needed in public funds. There is no timeline on the funding, but if they don’t reach the goal, the money donated will either be returned to the donors or given to local St. Louis charities.
Even with this, the future of the MLS in St. Louis remains doubtful and it looks like the city may have blown its one chance.
