St. Louis MLS expansion franchise continues to come together with name, logo announcement
ST. LOUIS (BVM) — In a move which was long in the making, Major League Soccer (MLS) awarded the city of St. Louis a franchise in its league in Aug. 2019. A year later, the franchise has officially branded its team name and logo as it continues to take the next steps towards building the franchise.
We are St. Louis CITY Soccer Club.#stlCITYsc #OurCITYOurSpirit pic.twitter.com/lw6liotZVG
— St Louis CITY SC (@stlCITYsc) August 13, 2020
St. Louis has a rich history in the sport of soccer, but has been without an official pro team for quite some time. In 1907, the city hosted the first pro soccer league, with its team winning numerous national competitions. Through the back half of the 1900s, St. Louis had teams compete in both the North American Soccer League and the Major Indoor Soccer League.
Over the past six years, it has also fielded an United Soccer League team — St. Louis FC. After the current season, St. Louis FC will fold after just one playoff appearance in its existence. However, the franchise was seen as a stepping stone for getting pro soccer back to St. Louis.
“We’re very appreciative of everything STLFC has done to grow soccer in St. Louis and the support they’ve shown us over the last two years,” a St. Louis City SC spokesperson said in a statement. “We hope all supporters and fans continue to support the other great soccer clubs in the region like Fire & Ice, Club Atletico, Marista, the St. Louis Lions and St. Louis Ambush. Our goal has always been to include all soccer fans and supporters who have put their heart and soul into showing how much this city truly loves the game of soccer, such as the Louligans, as part of our vision to bring Major League Soccer to St. Louis. That hasn’t and will not change.”
St. Louis has been on and off in aggressive attempts at bringing in an MLS franchise since 2007. At that time, it tried to land the Real Salt Lake franchise, which was looking to relocate if it did not have a stadium built. However, it eventually did build one, leaving St. Louis to continue its push for a team.
Up and down efforts continued for about a decade until the MLS4TheLou campaign was revived. The push to get a franchise was led by Carolyn Kindle Betz — Vice President of Enterprise. By 2019, MLS commissioner, Don Garber, would officially announce that St. Louis would finally be awarded an MLS team.
“It is with great pride that we welcome St. Louis to Major League Soccer,” Garber said in a statement. “St. Louis is a city with a rich soccer tradition, and it is a market we have considered since the league’s inception. Our league becomes stronger today with the addition of the city’s deeply dedicated soccer fans, and the committed and innovative local ownership group led by Carolyn Kindle Betz, the Taylor family, and Jim Kavanaugh.”
Kindle Betz is the majority owner of the franchise, and along with the Taylor family, they have become the first female majority-owned club in the MLS.
St. Louis joins the Sacramento expansion franchise as the 29th and 30th teams to join the league. Austin FC and Charlotte FC are two additional expansion teams who will begin play in 2021 and 2022 respectively. Overall, the MLS continues to grow, with a total of 12 expansion teams since 2015.
Although the team was originally slated to kickoff play in 2022, St. Louis fans will have to wait a year until 2023 to see their team in action, with the start of the franchise being pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, a couple weeks ago, excitement was created for fans as the team announced its new name and logo. The franchise will be called St. Louis City SC, following the traditional naming format of many MLS clubs. The team name was selected from over 6,000 submissions. While the “SC” stands for soccer club, many around St. Louis are already dubbing it to stand for, “soccer capital.”
Meanwhile, the logo introduced is a crest which was created by a group of over 20 local designers. The logo represents the city flag of St. Louis, while also displaying the Gateway Arch. The team’s official colors are, “City Red,” “River Blue,” “Energy Yellow,” and “Arch Steel Gray” according to the MLS.
For the CITY. For the LOU.
See you soon, St. Louis City SC! 😍 pic.twitter.com/YKcQmen0Rr
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 13, 2020
“St. Louis City SC is a reflection of the STLMade movement that is at the heart of everything we do, and truly represents our region’s diverse and optimistic spirit,” Kindle Betz said in a statement. “Our desire from day one has been to be bigger than soccer and to become part of the fabric of St. Louis and a symbol of our future. This is a significant step forward for our club — and our region.”
With the team name and logo now in place, the next focus becomes on building the 22,500-seat stadium downtown along with a nearby training complex. Builders first broke ground on the soccer-only stadium in February, and are scheduled to have it completed by 2022 — several months before St. Louis City SC will begin play.
The franchise will also continue to hire a front office staff while also finalizing corporate partnerships in the coming months.
After the NFL’s Rams left town in 2016, St. Louis was due for another pro sports franchise. It was a long process, but they finally got one. With the rich history the city has in the sport of soccer, and the excitement already surrounding the new franchise, expect St. Louis City SC to be a big hit when they kick off play in 2023.
