ST. LOUIS (AP) — The newest Major League Soccer team will be called St. Louis City SC when it makes its debut in 2023, team officials announced Thursday.
The team’s name and logo were announced nearly a year after the city was given an MLS franchise. St. Louis City SC will join Sacramento as the 29th and 30th teams when they begin play. The name was selected from more than 6,000 submissions.
The team colors will be “City Red,” “River Blue,” “Energy Yellow” and “Arch Steel Gray.” The logo includes a representation of the St. Louis Gateway Arch.
The team will have the only majority female-led ownership group in MLS, led by Carolyn Kindle Betz, president of Enterprise Holdings Foundation.
“Our desire from Day One has been to be bigger than soccer and to become part of the fabric of St. Louis and a symbol of our future. This is a significant step forward for our club – and our region,” Kindle Betz said in a news release.
The franchise in March received $5.7 million in state tax credits to help pay for the construction of a soccer complex on the western edge of downtown.
The team was scheduled to debut in 2022, but the process was delayed in part by the coronavirus pandemic.
- Lazer Snakes
- Chupacabras
- Kicky McKickertons Football Club
- STL Capybaras
The group waxed lyrical over the winning “St. Louis City SC”:
“Our club represents every street, neighborhood and community in the region, standing up for one another. We are the collective spirit of generations old and young, doers and makers, always looking forward – together.
“We are America’s First Soccer Capital and we tenaciously embrace our future. This is our club. This is our home. This is our CITY.”