Major League Soccer made it official on Tuesday: St. Louis was awarded an expansion franchise, which will become the domestic circuit’s 28 team in 2022. Flanked by the club’s ownership group, including Carolyn Kindle Betz and six other members of the Taylor family, MLS Commissioner Don Garber announced the franchise, the first in the league to have female majority ownership. The team will play in a new stadium in the Downtown West district of the city, which will feature 22,500 seats, each of which will be within 120 feet of the pitch and have a translucent canopy that will provide cover for fans while allowing for light to reach the field. MLS currently has 24 teams, including rookie FC Cincinnati. David Beckham’s Inter Miami squad and a new team in Nashville, Tennessee, will kick off next year, with a club in Austin, Texas, set to open in 2021, before the St. Louis entry make its debut.
“Our ownership group has come a long way since we first announced our bid last October at Mathews-Dickey Boys and Girls Club, and it’s an incredible feeling to now be able to say, St. Louis is home to the first official majority female-led ownership group in MLS,” said Carolyn Kindle Betz. “Our MLS team and stadium will only add to St. Louis’ renaissance currently underway and will provide us with a great opportunity to bring together many different segments of the community, uniting people in their love for the game.”
