Maryland Heights, Missouri is potentially looking to build an MLS stadium for the general St. Louis area. The man behind this plan is someone very familiar and very controversial in St. Louis.
It is reported by the St. Louis Port-Dispatch that Stan Kroenke is behind the plan to build the stadium and bring an MLS team to St. Louis. Kroenke tried to get the city to give him money to build an NFL stadium but ultimately moved to Los Angeles, leaving some fans angry.
There are also other options to the open land approximately a half hour from downtown St. Louis. One plan is to turn the land into retail and residential housing while another plan is to preserve the wetland area because replacing that could result in more serious flooding in that area, which is a big problem in the Midwest.
As far as MLS’ role in this, it doesn’t appear anyone is speaking out about this specific project. St. Louis was a city that the league was looking at and was very interested in adding an expansion team.
My big issue with this site is that it already is a half hour away from everything else in St. Louis. When soccer specific stadiums were being built throughout the mid 2000’s, many stadiums were being built outside of metropolitan cities and attendance has struggled to this day. Examples include the Chicago Fire in Bridgeview, Illinois, FC Dallas in Frisco, Texas and Kroenke’s Colorado Rapids in Commerce City, Colorado. They are places where the diehard fans are willing to go, but good luck getting a casual fan from the city out to catch a game.
And then there’s also the question of Kroenke, who many feel has already tried to take advantage of the city by wanting money to replace a stadium built in the 1990’s. Many could see this as some sort of ulterior motive and not trust him, given his Rams experience. Regardless, it remains to be seen in this long process of obtaining a stadium.
