Tuesday was going to be a monumental day for the future of MLS in St. Louis, for better or worse.
Unfortunately for the fans, it was the latter as a city voters decided that public money will not be released to fund a soccer-specific stadium in St. Louis.
St. Louis needed a final go-ahead on the stadium to boost its expansion bid, but it required $60 million in public funds. Due to city laws, a vote was required to give the okay.
The failed vote is a crucial blow to the city’s expansion hopes, which MLS acknowledged in a statement.
MLS STATEMENT ON ST. LOUIS PROPOSITION 2 VOTE pic.twitter.com/hE4DUsmoFR
— Dan Courtemanche (@courtemancheMLS) April 5, 2017
Jim Kavanaugh, one of the leaders of the St. Louis bid, admits that there is no other alternative and that Tuesday’s vote is the final nail in the coffin, per STL Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum.
SC STL's Jim Kavanaugh says there is no plan B for MLS in St. Louis. Prop 2's defeat is a death knell for #mls2stl.
— Jason Rosenbaum (@jrosenbaum) April 5, 2017
MLS and its owners will meet later this month to discuss expansion and to whittle down the list of candidates. Based on the vote, it sounds like St. Louis will not make the cut.