ST. LOUIS - St. Louis' long-awaited team in Major League Soccer will have to wait one more year for its inaugural season.
MLS officials announced on Friday that the debut of St. Louis' team, along with Sacramento, Calif., will be delayed one year, and the two teams will begin play in 2023. It was also announced that the team in Charlotte, N.C., would begin play in 2022 instead of next season, and the team in Austin, Tex., would still debut in 2021.
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in making the announcement about the one year delay, MLS Commissioner Don Garber and the league's expansion committee cited the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the national sporting scene, and felt the delay would give Charlotte, St. Louis and Sacramento ample time to make a successful debut. Austin's team will move forward with its opening season because the franchise has moved along in its opening objectives.
"We've been working closely with the league, and collectively agreed that the adjusted timeline was the best decision to position our club for a historic launch and long-term success," said Carolyn Kinder Betz, the CEO of the team's ownership group, MLS4TheLou, in a report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "We can't wait to get on the pitch in 2023, and are still moving full steam ahead to build a world-class club and stadium district that will invigorate Downtown West, and be a meaningful part of our current Downtown renaissance."
The privately financed stadium, which will seat 22,500 when completed, is currently under construction just west of St. Louis Union Station, with necessary health and safety precautions already having been taken. The project will continue along, having targeted March, 2022 for its opening, but the pandemic has interfered with the timeline.
The St. Louis ownership group was awarded the franchise in August of last year, but the name, colors and jersey designs have yet to be announced.
