Jeff Cooper, the lead figure in St. Louis's bid to land a MLS side, has conceded defeat to Philadelphia for the 16th spot in the league and is now focused on winning the 17th.

"'2010 is what we're targeting,' Cooper said."

Since it looks like 2010 will be the year Philadelphia will enter the league, it appears Cooper sees little difference between spots 16 and 17. Click to continue reading...

After the Delaware River Port Authority signed off on the final piece of the Philadelphia puzzle yesterday, MLS appears ready to make it official, Philadelphia will be the 17th team in the league. The announcement is expect next Thursday (28 Feb) in Chester.

The new Philadelphia team will begin play in their 18,500-seat stadium in 2010. Click to continue reading...

"'It's definitely Philly," said a Major League Soccer source, declining to be quoted by name in advance of an official announcement. 'It's the market size, the ownership group. These are wealthy people. They're going to be strong owners.'"

Failing some sort of 'impossible-to-foresee cataclysm', Philadelphia is set to become the 16th MLS team. Click to continue reading...

The Collinsville City Council has approved a TIF plan to help pay for the proposed 400-acre stadium site. The hope is this will help the St. Louis soccer group find the additional investors needed to bring a MLS team to the area. For those wondering, a TIF plan is basically a loan to oneself against the projected increased tax income from a public project. Click to continue reading...

MLS commissioner Don Garber was impressed with what he experienced in Portland yesterday, but it looks like Seattle will be the city to earn one of the next expansion teams.

"The league probably will name Seattle and an East Coast city as sites for the newest franchises, to begin play in 2009, Garber said. Portland is vying for one of two more expansion teams that would begin play in 2010 or 2011, he said. Click to continue reading...

Another piece of the puzzle came together for the St. Louis United soccer group yesterday as the Collinsville City Council has voted unanimously to rezone the property for the 18,500-seat stadium.

Interestingly, not all the land that was rezoned is actually part of Collinsville at the moment as the annexation process is not yet complete. Click to continue reading...

The first hurdle of many has been cleared for St. Louis Soccer United (SLSU) as the city of Collinsville voted to move forward on a pre-annexation agreement. What this means is that the city will work with SLSU to negotiation for annexation of portions of the planned site not currently within city limits.

This is still a long way to a done deal, but with the relatively smooth process up to this point, it does seem that there is a great deal of interest by both parties to make this happen. Click to continue reading...

The Collinsville City Council will decide tonight if they are going to go along with St. Louis Soccer United's (SLSU) stadium proposal.

Included in this proposal are an 18,500-seat stadium, 240 hotel rooms, at least two restaurants, several youth soccer fields and nearly 500,000 square feet of office and retail space. The cost is just over $400 million. Click to continue reading...

The bid to build a soccer complex in Collinsville, just outside of St. Louis, is heading into the final phase and if bid leader Jeff Cooper has anything to say about it, the public will get to see as much of the proposal as possible.

"I've got to live" in the Metro East, Cooper said. "I don't want people burning down my house because they think I was slipping something by the Collinsville council.

Click to continue reading...

Co push to bring professional soccer back to the St. Louis area might be about to pay off as his group, St. Louis Soccer United, has proposed a stadium deal to the Collinsville City Council that, if approved, would all but guarantee the city a MLS club.

The $100 million stadium complex includes an "18,900-seat stadium, a hotel, at least two restaurants, about 1,000 single-family homes, several youth soccer fields and nearly 500,000 square feet of office and retail space. Click to continue reading...