Hopeful owners of an MLS team in St. Louis are "prepared to pay" cash for a $250M downtown stadium, but are "asking for tax-dollar help" to build the venue, according to a front-page piece by David Hunn of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. Enterprise Holdings Foundation Senior VP & Exec Dir Carolyn Betz said that the nine-person prospective ownership group has "no plans to borrow money to build the 20,000-seat structure." Betz also said that MLS "hasn't told" the ownership group "precisely how many spots are left in the league." However, she believes that St. Louis is "in control of its own destiny." Betz: "I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think I could get a team." Hunn noted the city has proposed giving owners a 50% break on ticket taxes, a "full tax exemption on stadium construction materials," a $30M tax break from the state of Missouri, a 3% sales tax on stadium goods and the "free use of land" for the stadium. However, Betz said that there were "still many unknowns." She added MLS has "not discussed a franchise or expansion fee -- which could crest" $150M -- with the ownership group. Betz said that her group is "beginning to think about engineering and stadium design," and she hoped to get MLS Commissioner Don Garber to St. Louis for an "on-site tour by mid-December" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 11/15).
