Group puts plans in motion to bring MLS to St. Louis

by | Oct 10, 2018 | News, Sports Features

Carolyn Kindle Betz from The Taylor Family of Enterprise Rental Car made the announcement they’ve teamed up with Jim Kavanaugh, founder of World Wide Technology to make a bid for one of the last two MLS expansion teams.

A new, St. Louis-based ownership group led by Carolyn Kindle Betz, who is Senior VP of Enterprise Holdings and Executive Director of the Enterprise Holdings Foundation, and six other female members of the Taylor family, along with Andy Taylor, Executive Chairman of Enterprise Holdings, and Jim Kavanaugh, CEO of World Wide Technology, announced plans to bring a Major League Soccer club to St. Louis.

The proposal will mostly be privately funded. Some funding will come from “user taxes” that allows for the collection of taxes from only those who attend events.

The preferred site for an open-air soccer stadium sits adjacent to Union Station in downtown St. Louis. The stadium would also be used for concerts, high school and college tournaments, camps and more.  The design of the new stadium has not yet been completed, but will not be the same stadium that was first proposed for this site in 2016.

“We envision an MLS team as yet another way to increase the energy and momentum to an already wonderful city that means so much to us,” says Andy Taylor in the release. “The addition of a third major league team speaks to our desirability as a place to work, live and play. St. Louis is a major league city that deserves the many benefits that come with an MLS club.”

“A new St. Louis MLS team would be the first female majority-owned club in the league’s history and one of the few in all professional sports,” Kindle Betz added at the press conference.

MLS is looking to expand to two more cities and St. Louis hopes to grab one of those two slots.  Early estimates say that if St. Louis is awarded a franchise, the club could be ready to play by 2022.