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Nixon Explores Options for Bringing Major League Soccer to St. Louis

Ryan Knapp
/
Flickr

Nixon announced via Twitter that he met Tuesday with MLS commissioner Don Garber, and said that they had a “good meeting regarding soccer in St. Louis.” No other details have been released so far. 

There’s been speculation that state and city officials would pursue a professional soccer team ever since St. Louis lost its former NFL team to Los Angeles in January.

Republican lawmakers strongly opposed Nixon’s plans to extend bond payments on the Edward Jones Dome as a means to build a new football stadium and keep the Rams from leaving.

That, of course, did not happen. It’s expected that the GOP-controlled House and Senate would also fight any effort to use state money to build a pro soccer stadium in St. Louis.

Missouri Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a proud alumnus of the University of Mississippi (a.k.a., Ole Miss), and has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off the old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Mason, and their cat, Honey.