St. Louis City SC

Previous attempts

Soccer has had an established history at both the professional and amateur levels in Greater St. Louis for more than a century. In 2007, St. Louis was considered a possible destination for Real Salt Lake after the club founder announced he would sell the club if a new stadium was not built. From 2008 to 2009, St. Louis lawyer Jeff Cooper led a group of would-be owners who attempted to bring an MLS expansion team to Greater St. Louis, only to have the bids turned down in favor of other cities. Despite approved plans to build the $600 million Collinsville Soccer Complex, MLS was unimpressed with the bid's financial backing and suggested Cooper expand his group of investors. Cooper instead launched a second division men's club and a Women's Professional Soccer franchise. AC St. Louis played only one season in Division 2 before folding in 2011; the Saint Louis Athletica folded midway through its second season in 2010.

In late 2014, the city announced plans for a new stadium to host both American football and soccer. MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in January 2015, "St. Louis has got a lot of activity going on with a stadium that they’re trying to get done for the NFL's Rams. There's a big soccer community out there and we'd love to see a soccer stadium downtown like they're thinking about a football stadium." In May 2015, Garber visited St. Louis to talk about a possible new multi-purpose stadium that could host soccer games. Garber cautioned that any possible expansion to St. Louis would occur after 2020. On January 12, 2016, the Rams moved to Los Angeles after playing in St. Louis for 21 seasons. The Rams' move initially accelerated the talks of an MLS expansion team.

In 2017, MLS began to consider adding a team in St. Louis, beginning in 2020. The proposed ownership group sought public funds to help build a $200 million soccer-specific stadium next to Union Station in downtown St. Louis. On January 26, 2017, a funding plan was approved by the city's Aldermanic Ways and Means Committee, and later by the entire Board of Aldermen, that would have directed $60 million in city tax revenue to the new stadium. Voters rejected the plan in an April 4, 2017, referendum, leaving the city's MLS future in doubt.

2018–2019: Expansion bid

In September 2018, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on a meeting between officials with the Missouri Department of Economic Development and MLS representatives regarding a stadium proposal; St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson later confirmed that a new group was trying to bring a team to St. Louis. St. Louis's MLS bid was effectively re-launched on October 9 of that year, with Carolyn Kindle and other heirs to the Enterprise Rent-A-Car fortune as the primary investors. The stadium location remained the same as in the original 2016 location, near Union Station. This bid did not seek public funding through taxes or from the city, so the public did not get to vote on the stadium. On November 28, 2018, the Board of Aldermen's Housing, Urban Development, and Zoning Committee voted 8–0 to approve the stadium plan.

On April 18, 2019, the MLS announced plans to expand to 30 teams, up from the previous plan of 28. The league, currently at 27 teams, advised the Commissioner's office to advance the discussions with the Sacramento Republic and St. Louis bids. Both bids were asked to make presentations to the MLS Expansion Committee to "address each bid's final stadium plan, corporate commitments, the composition of the respective ownership groups, detailed economics on funding, strategic plans for fan development, commitments on player development and details on community programs."

On April 20, 2019, two days after MLS announced it would advance discussions with the Sacramento and St. Louis bids, the St. Louis group released renderings and more information about their proposed stadium. The 22,423-seat stadium's design was produced by a collaboration between HOK and Snow Kreilich Architects. The group also promised that every seat would be within 120 feet of the field and that a canopy would cover the stadium.

On August 20, 2019, MLS announced it had approved St. Louis as the league's 28th franchise, with play expected to begin in the 2022 season. The ownership group consists of Enterprise Holdings Foundation president Carolyn Kindle Betz and female members of the Taylor family, and is the first female majority-owned team in MLS. In the announcement, Don Garber said, "St. Louis is a city with a rich soccer tradition, and it is a market we have considered since the league's inception. Our league becomes stronger today with the addition of the city's deeply dedicated soccer fans, and the committed and innovative local ownership group led by Carolyn Kindle Betz, the Taylor family, and Jim Kavanaugh."

2019–present

On October 19, 2019, the ownership group released new plans for the planned soccer-specific stadium. The area was extended to encompass a 31-acre (13 ha) plan and would likely exceed the original $200 million cost estimate. The ownership group agreed to purchase and own the land along with the stadium and will not seek tax revenue or public financing.

On December 17, 2019, the state of Missouri informed the ownership group that the $30 million previously promised by the state will no longer be provided. However, on March 18, 2020, the Missouri Development Finance Board unanimously approved a package of incentives worth $5.7 million in tax credits to help with construction of the $458 million stadium and surrounding area.

On March 25, 2020, the ownership group released a statement regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Site preparation for the stadium will continue as planned. Site preparation includes clearing all land where the stadium will sit and demolishing the old on and off ramps located on the site.

On August 17, 2020, former Fortuna Düsseldorf managing director of sports Lutz Pfannenstiel was introduced as sporting director of St. Louis City SC and began building the club from the ground up.

Former South African International and New York Red Bulls assistant coach Bradley Carnell was named as the team's first head coach on January 5, 2022.

On February 25, 2023, St. Louis City SC played in their first match in Major League Soccer, winning by a score of 3–2, against Austin FC at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas.

On March 4, 2023, St. Louis City SC played their first home game in Major League Soccer, winning by a score of 3–1 against Charlotte FC in front of a sold-out crowd at CityPark in St. Louis, Missouri.

On March 18, 2023, St. Louis City SC became the first MLS team to win their first four games as an expansion team after beating the San Jose Earthquakes 3–0. This was the first clean sheet in St. Louis City SC history.

On March 25, 2023, St. Louis City SC became the first team to win their first five games after beating Real Salt Lake 4–0 away. They also set a new record as the 3rd team to have 15 points in its first five games, joining the Los Angeles Galaxy in 1996 and Sporting Kansas City in 2012.

On April 1, 2023, St. Louis City SC lost their first game in their history against Minnesota United FC with the score 0–1 in Citypark.

On April 16, 2023, St. Louis City SC defeated FC Cincinnati by a score of 5–1. Cincinnati had the most points in MLS at the time with a record of 5–0–2 .With this win, St. Louis City SC became the most successful MLS Expansion team in their first eight games with 18 points.

On September 30, 2023, St. Louis City SC broke the record for most wins by an MLS expansion club, defeating Sporting Kansas City 4-1 and reaching 17 wins.

On October 1, 2023, St. Louis City SC won the Western Conference in their first year as a franchise and would also qualify for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

On November 5, 2023, St. Louis was eliminated from the MLS Cup Playoffs after being swept by Sporting Kansas City in the first round best-of-three series. Sporting won the first game 4-1 in St. Louis and the home leg 2-1 in Kansas City.

St. Louis City would begin their 2024 campaign, going undefeated through five games. Although, the team would only have one win in this time frame, A 2-0 win against New York City FC on March 2nd.