After Missouri Governor-elect Eric Greitens called public funding for stadiums "welfare for millionaires", the bill pledging $80 million in public funds for a soccer stadium in St. Louis seemed like a long shot. Now, the bill is officially dead.
Surely the picture above is not some kind of metaphor for Missouri Governor-elect Eric Greitens, a former Navy SEAL, shooting down a proposal for an MLS team in St. Louis that included a hefty chunk of public funding for a new stadium.
That would be ridiculous.
Greitens has once-and-for-all said that state funding will not be used for stadiums if he can help it.
For many, 2016 will be remembered as a year of loss. For all the remarkable gains, achievements and creations that sprung from 2016, it’s often the hurt derived from defeats and casualties that reverberates most poignantly. Here are 10 things we’ve lost in football over the course of 2016.
According to ESPN, Real Salt Lake and another team from the MLS Eastern Conference have entered discussions with Landon Donovan over the 34-year-old continuing his career in 2017.
Donovan made a shock return for the LA Galaxy in 2016, appearing in nine matches for a Los Angeles squad that had been left depleted in attack following a serious injury to Gyasi Zardes and the questionable fitness of Robbie Keane and Steven Gerrard.
To go along with everything else that 2016 conspired to throw in our face, the Major League Soccer season was no less sensational. The teams that contested the 2015 MLS Cup Final both failed to make the playoffs, Landon Donovan made a remarkable return to action and the entirety of the Seattle Sounders season was basically made for Hollywood.
There was a time when simply building a soccer specific stadium was setting the bar. Then came the era of enclosed-seaters around 20,000 following the same mold, like Sporting KC, Houston and Dallas. In today’s MLS world, a statement is needed in order to make an impact. Welcome to the "Purple Wall," MLS’s great new attraction.
The MLS recently announced the pricing for the next round of teams to enter the league. With plans to add four more teams in order to reach 28, cities across the US are racing for selection. Long considered a candidate for expansion, St. Louis fans will be frustrated to see comments from the new governor-elect that could push their city down the bid list.
There is no rest in professional sports. As soon as one champion is crowned, teams begin preparing to wrest their title away. Can the Seattle Sounders repeat in 2017? Can Toronto FC take the final step? What big players will move in, around or out of the league?
MLS quickly jumped into 2017 with the Expansion and Waiver drafts having already taken place. Here’s a look at the five biggest transactions to take place in this young MLS offseason.
Up and down both Canada and the United States, there's a whole host of cities clamoring for a place in Major League Soccer. The love of the sport is growing with every passing day, and it's no surprise that everyone wants a piece of the action.
However, not every location has what it takes to participate in one of the fastest growing leagues in the world. Whether it's stature, popularity or overall appeal, not many places can touch these five when it comes to having the potential necessary for a long-lasting MLS club.
DaMarcus Beasley has been invited to the USMNT’s January camp, a glorified workout for MLS-based players and an opportunity for the national coaching staff to monitor them in an otherwise overlong offseason, and that’s really funny for people who seem to have a particular agenda.