St. Louis has always thought of itself as a baseball town, but will we soon become a soccer town?  There are two major news stories that are making it appear that St. Louis's soccer "scene" is escalating from the domain of overzealous moms driving repurposed military vehicles to not only a professional level, but possibly moving to the center of the world's soccer stage. 

The first report that is more likely to have something come of it comes from St. Louis Soccer United.  According to their website, St. Louis is pretty darn close to landing the 17th Major League Soccer franchise team that is up for grabs right now.  A deal for a new soccer stadium is in the works now; just waiting for the ink on the franchise deal to dry.  The new stadium would be built on 400 acres in Collinsville and have 18,500 seats, some youth fields, and a "mixed-use development" that hopefully doesn't go down the same path as our pride and joy - Lake DeWitt downtown.

The second, more up in the air report relies on the outcome of Chicago's bid for the Olympics in 2016.  If Chicago gets the Olympics, which a reports claims they are favored to, St. Louis may host the soccer events. Let's see... I am probably going to be past my professional soccer playing prime by the time that rolls around, so there is little chance I will be tapped to play for team USA (that combined with the fact that I haven't played soccer for almost eleven years, but whatever).  I will, however, accept the consolation prize of living in a city co-hosting the games.  So basically we would get soccer because Chicago gets the big games - I am starting to understand why St. Louis kind of has an inferiority complex with Chicago.

So, what do you think St. Louis?  Is there room for another professional sports team here in the biggest small town and is the Lou in particular ready for another brand of football?

Editor's Note: For more about a possible St. Louis soccer franchise, check out our past article and video that included an interview with Mr. St. Louis Soccer United himself!