ST. LOUIS -- The NFLs Rams are gone, and attention in St. Louis now turns to soccer with an ownership group pursuing a Major League Soccer expansion team.The effort includes plans to build a $200 million stadium downtown that would require millions of dollars in public funding.The ownership group revealed Thursday is known as SC STL. Paul Edgerley, a partner at the investment firm VantEdge Partners, is lead owner and chairman. Among his partners is Dave Peacock, former president of Anheuser-Busch and a driving force behind the effort last year to build a $1 billion riverfront stadium for the Rams.The football stadium plan died when the NFL in January approved Rams owner Stan Kroenkes request to move the team to Los Angeles. Since the departure of football, efforts to secure an MLS team have escalated.The MLS is already adding two new teams to expand to 24 by the end of the decade, and eventually plans to add four more, league spokesman Dan Courtemanche said. St. Louis is among eight markets that have publicly expressed interest in the four additional expansion slots, Courtemanche said. A timetable for when those cities would join the league has not been determined.Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement that league officials have had very productive meetings with Edgerley and his partners.With its rich soccer heritage, St. Louis has always been a market of great interest to Major League Soccer and SC STL is the ideal ownership group that will provide St. Louis the best opportunity for a future expansion team, Garber said.The open-air stadium would have 20,000 seats with the ability to expand to 28,500. It would sit next to St. Louis Union Station and encompass about 24 acres on land near Interstate 64 currently owned by the Missouri Department of Transportation. The city has an option to buy the site, but the value is still being appraised.SC STL said it would fund much of the stadium construction cost, but St. Louis voters in April would be asked to fund a significant share, up to $80 million, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Specific details on the public portion are still being worked out, but the spokesman for the ownership group, Jim Woodcock, said the stadium will only be built if the league approves a St. Louis team.Getting it on the ballot is no sure thing. Though the NFL plan was eventually approved by city aldermen, the debate was often contentious. Alderman Sam Moore said at one meeting that some residents live in Third World conditions while taxpayers were paying for stadiums. Messages left for Moore on Friday were not immediately returned.The ownership group said it also will work with the state for financial assistance related to site development and infrastructure.The stadium would be within about a mile of two other downtown sports venues -- baseballs Busch Stadium and the Scottrade Center, home of the NHLs Blues. Authentic Custom Dodgers Jersey . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif. Custom Dodgers T-shirts . The move comes after the Canadiens were approached by the Buffalo Sabres for permission to speak to Dudley - a former Sabres player and head coach. "The Sabres called for permission and I appreciate that, Im flattered, Dudley told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun of ESPN. http://www.customdodgersjersey.com/ . Boucher previously coached the Tampa Bay Lightning and had a 97-78-20 record over two-plus seasons. He was dismissed by the team last March after the Lightning struggled in the lockout-shortened season with a 13-18-1 record. Babe Herman Jersey Large . Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Evertons 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers. Custom Babe Herman Jersey . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- After reaching the postseason for the first time since 2009, the Detroit Pistons had a bit more credibility during free agency.Thats Stan Van Gundys view, at least, after his team signed guard Ish Smith and forward Jon Leuer.I think that guys look at us probably a little differently -- you know, young team on the rise, said Van Gundy, Detroits coach and team president. I think both Jon and Ish liked the idea that they were sort of playing with guys in their own age group, and even younger.The Pistons introduced Smith and Leuer on Friday, and theyll be counting on both players to add depth to the roster. Detroits long-awaited return to the playoffs was short-lived when the Pistons were swept in the first round by Cleveland, but last season was still a significant step forward.Detroit came out of the draft last month still needing to acquire a backup to point guard Reggie Jackson. Thats certainly a role Smith can fill after averaging a career-high 12.6 points in 77 games with Philadelphia and New Orleans last season. Leuer gives the Pistons a versatile big man who shot 38 percent from 3-point range a season ago with Phoenix.Smith and Leuer are both 27.Last year, I thought we had a really good year, but we were really fortunate that we didnt have injuries that set us back or anything like that, Van Gundy said. I dont know that we would have had the depth to overcome that. I feel like now, really at every position now, I feel like weve got four guys we can play at each position, because weve also goot very versatile guys.dddddddddddd.The Pistons have built around center Andre Drummond, whom they drafted in 2012. They traded for Jackson in 2015 and also have added starters Marcus Morris and Tobias Harris in trades. Detroit hasnt been much of a destination lately for top free agents, with the team in a rebuilding mode, but now Van Gundy can sell a brighter future.Smith, for example, is looking forward to tossing alley-oop passes in Drummonds direction.Dre better be ready to go get lobs from the first team and the second team, Smith said. Reggie does a great job of throwing them, Im most definitely going to throw them.The move to the Pistons might bring some stability to Smiths career. He has been in the NBA six seasons, and 2013-14 (with Phoenix) is the only one in which he played exclusively with one team. Detroit will be his 10th team. He joins Louis Amundson and Drew Gooden as the only active NBA players to play for 10 teams.The 6-foot-10 Leuer averaged a career-high 8.5 points last season and has the ability to help spread the opposing defense out as a forward or even a center.Thats kind of the way the leagues going, Leuer said. Small ball and versatility is becoming a unique and effective lineup, so thats something I was able to do last year a little bit, was come in at the five. ... Definitely something I feel comfortable doing.---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister ' ' '
