St. Louis voters this week rejected public financing for an MLS stadium, and SC STL political consultant Jeff Rainford said that the campaign "struggled to appeal to older, more conservative voters as well as black voters," according to a front-page piece by Mike Faulk of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. It had "success with younger voters, voters with young families and a cohort of Democratic supporters." Citywide, 20 of 28 wards "voted down the proposal." The "strongest opposition was in predominantly black north St. Louis wards." Investors said that there was "no secondary financing plan, and they don’t expect one to materialize." SC STL Vice Chair Jim Kavanaugh said that the investor group was "breaking up," though some individuals may consider investing in other MLS teams. Almost 60,000 St. Louis voters cast ballots -- the "highest turnout for an April city election in decades." Consultants told the SC STL ownership group that they would "need more than 20,000 'yes' votes to succeed." They got "more than 27,000 and still lost by about 3,300 votes." Rainford said, "Even though we lost and it has not been an easy thing to accept, it’s kind of gratifying to see that kind of voter turnout" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 4/6). FOXSPORTS.com's Ryan Rosenblatt wrote, "We have all learned (or more accurately re-learned) one very important lesson: Nothing matters more than stadium funding, and it’s also the hardest thing to lock down." That is why MLS' "entire expansion picture is so cloudy." Right now, only "one of the 12 prospective bids have a stadium deal locked up -- Sacramento" (FOXSPORTS.com, 4/5).
SOUTH BEACH OR SIN CITY? SI.com's Brian Straus noted MLS "still hasn't given up" on David Beckham and a possible expansion team in Miami. Beckham’s troubles "raised questions concerning the future of the franchise he’s already purchased from the league." Straus: "Could he abandon Miami for Las Vegas? The answer is no, unless he were to work out an entirely new deal with the league." The "discounted franchise he purchased under the terms of his initial playing contract is valid only for the city he and MLS agreed upon." If Beckham wants to "pull out, it’ll cost him dearly." In addition, he would have to "want to go to a city that interests MLS, and there’s no reason to conclude Vegas is such a place" (SI.com, 4/5).
