|
It looks like St. Louis will remain a two-sport town after voters defeated a measure that would have helped pay for a stadium as part of an effort to lure a Major League Soccer franchise. City voters turned down Proposition 2 on Tuesday by a 53 percent to 47 percent vote. It would have provided $60 million from a business-use tax to help fund a soccer stadium. MLS leaders have expressed strong interest in St. Louis, but only if voters agreed to public funding. The league is expected to award two expansion franchises this fall, both of which would begin play in 2020. St. Louis has two professional franchises, the baseball Cardinals and the NHL Blues. Meanwhile, in San Diego, a group that has applied for an MLS expansion team plans to ask the City Council to place its proposal for a $1 billion development at the Qualcomm Stadium site on the ballot as part of a special election in November. The development would include a stadium that an MLS team could possibly share with San Diego State. The group proposed the development shortly after the NFL's Chargers announced they were relocating to the Los Angeles area. The city has said it could close Qualcomm Stadium by 2018. Mike Stone, the lead partner in Goal SD, says the group wants the voters to have the final say on what happens to the Qualcomm site. The group also includes Peter Seidler, managing partner of the Padres.
|
