MLS Commissioner Don Garber indicated at the MLS Super Draft that St Louis was still a long way off with their franchise bid. "We really want to be in St. Louis," Garber said prior to the league's draft at America's Center, "but in order to be here, we have to be sure that every aspect of Jeff Cooper's bid is solid and one of the weaknesses it has today is that Jeff has not been able to secure the investor who has very deep pockets.

"And that's not just to satisfy the league's needs, that's to assure that the team will be successful in St. Louis, that it can make the right investments in the community, that it can make the right investments in player development, fan development, marketing, promotion, both on- and off-field staff. Lastly, should there be economic challenges for the league, we need to know that the group can have a couple of rocky years. Right now, we're not secure that his group can satisfy the objectives so the team will be successful. Now, other bids have other weaknesses."

St. Louis is one of six cities looking to secure the two spots available the other cities are Miami, Portland, Atlanta, Ottawa and Vancouver. The Miami bid has the backing of Spanish club Barcelona and Atlanta is now out of the running as it's bid was withdrawn at the Super Draft.

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