St. Louis City Friendly Opens Doors For Stronger U.S. Ties

Even before a ball has been kicked at the brand new CityPark Stadium in downtown St. Louis, Bayer Leverkusen is already trying to make an impact on the city. The Bundesliga giant will open the stadium in a friendly against Major League Soccer expansion side on Nov. 16 and is trying to use the opportunity to grow the club and Bundesliga brand in the United States.

“I think it is very important for us, Bayer Leverkusen, as well as the Bundesliga overall,” Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro said at a media event hosted by Bayer AG in downtown St. Louis the day ahead of the game. “I always said that we have to work hard to increase awareness about the Bundesliga and its clubs, which also includes Bayer Leverkusen.”

The pharmaceutical company Bayer AG, which also owns the Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen, has a strong presence in St. Louis after the company acquired Monsanto for $63 billion in 2018. Carro pointed out that ever since the takeover, the club has worked on increasing its presence in the city as well.

Then in 2019, MLS announced that the league would expand to St. Louis in 2022—that date was moved back by one year because of the pandemic, and the club will start to play in 2023. “It is a project I have been working on for four years,” Carro said. “It is good when you see something that was started four years ago finally materialize.”

But could the partnership between Bayer Leverkusen and St. Louis City SCSC
become something more? MLS side FC Dallas, for example, has a partnership in place with Bayern Munich, and Hoffenheim cooperates with FC Cincinnati.

“I mean, we, of course, are using the chance of being here and have already used the time to prepare the friendly to discuss with the team and Lutz Pfannenstiel about other possibilities for the future,” Carro said. “But let’s play the game tomorrow, and then we will see. But, I would not be surprised if we deepen this relationship in the future.”

Whether deeper cooperation between the two clubs can materialize will ultimately depend on whether Leverkusen and St. Louis City can align their goals. Carro explained that both teams must be satisfied with every aspect of a potential deal without specifying what the exact perimeters of cooperation would look like. “I think St. Louis City know exactly what they would like in a cooperation, and we do as well,” Carro said.

Carro, however, pointed out that the growth potential in the United States was significant, especially with the World Cup being hosted by North America in 2026. Leverkusen visited Mexico last spring and, beyond the game in St. Louis, has further visits to North America planned in the buildup to the World Cup.

“We want to deepen our relationship with the St. Louis MLS team and strengthen the relationship with the Mexican league,” Carro said. The club also wants to use the influence of its owner Bayer to deepen those relationships all over North America.

“Bayer is important everywhere,” Carro said. “We celebrated 100 years of Bayer in Mexico; now we are [in St. Louis] because Bayer has the Crop Science headquarters here.”

With the Bayer company always in the background, Leverkusen wants to increase its platform in North America ahead of the World Cup. The friendly in St. Louis is just another step in that process, and it will be interesting to see whether it will lead to an increased partnership with the expansion team and MLS as a whole.

Manuel Veth is the host of the Bundesliga Gegenpressing Podcast and the Area Manager USA at Transfermarkt. He has also been published in the Guardian, Newsweek, Howler, Pro Soccer USA, and several other outlets. Follow him on Twitter: @ManuelVeth