Kindle breaks ground for women at newest MLS club
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[February 23, 2023] By
Amy Tennery
(Reuters) - Major League Soccer's (MLS) expansion franchise St.
Louis City make their regular-season debut on Saturday and in
Carolyn Kindle they have a female figurehead with an uncommon
combination of leadership roles.
The self-described soccer newcomer is President, CEO and part of the
nine-strong majority female ownership group who shelled out a
reported $200 million in expansion fees to make St Louis City the
29th MLS team.
Kindle told Reuters it was an "epic journey" from launching the
expansion plan in 2018, after previous attempts to bring a men's
professional club to the soccer-mad city fell through.
Kindle, the granddaughter of Enterprise Rent-A-Car founder Jack
Taylor, said it started as an idea to give back to the St. Louis
community.
"I don't really think soccer was in there in the top five
originally," said Kindle, who climbed up the ranks of Enterprise
Holdings, the parent company for Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
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"But then as we started doing some research, we came to realize it
would be a great, great thing for the city of St. Louis."
American executive Meg Whitman, a part owner of FC Cincinnati, and
Columbus Crew co-owner Dee Haslam are among the women with existing
stakes in MLS clubs.
"We're a league for a new America," MLS Commissioner Don Garber told
Reuters.
"We want to have more diversity in our ownership groups so that we
have diversity of thought, not just diversity of our fan base and of
our coaching ranks and our administration, but diversity around our
board table."
St. Louis's MLS debut follows the departure of the National Football
League's (NFL) Rams, who skipped town and relocated to Los Angeles
following the 2015 season.
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![](../images/022323PIX/sports25.jpg)
Carolyn Kindle, the owner of newest MLS
team in St. Louis, speaks during an interview New York City, U.S.,
February 22, 2023. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
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The MLS franchise makes St. Louis a three-team town
again along with Major League Baseball's Cardinals and the National
Hockey League's Blues.
"It goes back to one thing that I've always wanted to do, and that's
put St. Louis back on the international map. And what better way to
do that than with a global sport," said Kindle.
She is well aware of the hurdles the new franchise will have to
overcome on the pitch, as they bring together players and coaches
for the first time.
And with Garber planning to name a 30th team before the year's end,
St. Louis City have scarce time to seize the spotlight.
"As far as any sort of expectation or prediction, I want them to
have fun. I want them to play well. I want them to bring excitement
that everybody's talked about," said Kindle.
"But I have a feeling, knowing the coaches in the sporting
department, failure is not an option."
St. Louis begin the season at Austin FC on Saturday and play their
home opener at the 22,500-seat Citypark March 4 against Charlotte
FC.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Toby Davis)
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