Major League Soccer expansion team St. Louis City SC earned its first home victory last weekend, defeating Charlotte FC in front of a sold-out crowd. For team CEO and president Carolyn Kindle, it was almost like a “proud parent moment.”
“This past Saturday was a celebration of all the hard work the region has put in to support me and our entire team,” he told CBS News on Wednesday. “It wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for them.”
But that wasn’t the only history-making moment for Kindle. She is the first female president and CEO of an MLS team. She is also part of the league’s first female-led ownership group.
However, running a sports franchise was an unexpected turn of events for someone who didn’t grow up to be a football lover.
“It wasn’t something where I didn’t think my career was going to go,” he said.
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Kindle is the granddaughter of Enterprise Rent-A-Car founder Jack Taylor, and serves as president of the company’s foundation, the Enterprise Holdings Foundation. In 2018, Kindle and others who became part of the St. Louis City SC ownership group — including some family members — saw an opportunity to “do something for the city of St. Louis” in his hometown.
“One of the things I said from the beginning was I wanted to make sure we got St. Louis back on the international map,” Kindle said.
Fast forward to today: the U.S. Men’s National Team’s recent performance at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the upcoming tournament in North America in 2026, and the addition of St. Louis City SC to MLS, adding eight teams to the league in less than 10 years.
Before the team played its first game, 60,000 season tickets were held. St. Louis City SC has a new stadium, CitiPark, with 22,500 seats and a new practice facility, all within a 31-plus acre campus. CITYPARK also has more women’s bathrooms than men’s, a detail that comes with majority female ownership, Kindle said.
St. Louis City SC
But it all goes back to one thing for the Kindle. He hopes — the third major professional sports franchise in St. Louis — will “bring everyone together.”
Kindle says she draws inspiration from the “strong, successful” women in her family who have guided her. on International Women’s DayKindle had a message for other women and girls looking to climb the ranks.
“I think you just have to follow your dreams, and along the way, you have to be able to ask for help…but if you really believe in yourself and believe in what you’re doing, you’ll get it done.”
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Christopher Brito
