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“Morning Jim, any chance you could make lunch at the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Club …â€�

It was from Lee Broughton, who is married to Chrissy Taylor … who is the daughter of Andy Taylor, the executive chairman of Enterprise Holdings.

The Taylor family was curious about this soccer stuff.

So, Broughton coordinated a lunch.

It was there at the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Club, the prestigious private dining club in Clayton, that the dialogue began — the dialogue that now has us all talking about the realistic possibility of Major League Soccer coming to our town.

“Andy and I got together,� Kavanaugh said Monday from his office at World Wide Technology, “and I kind of walked him through the financial and political dynamics of what it would take to really put this together. I painted, what I consider, a pretty realistic-to-challenging picture. If he truly was serious, I wanted him to be going in eyes wide open.�

Kavanaugh, of course, had tried to bring MLS to ºüÀêÊÓƵ in 2017, but a public vote shot down the option of public financing. But here was the Taylor family, committed to preserving and growing ºüÀêÊÓƵ, interested in privately financing.

“I knew we still had our challenges,â€� Kavanaugh said. “But at this point, the change with the governor was taking place, and that was a big piece. We needed the political leaders behind this. … What a great lunch at the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Club. Spent some time, talked through it. To his credit, (Andy) kept calling back, ‘Let’s get together again, let’s talk a little more.’ We quickly came together and agreed. This is something that would be very important to ºüÀêÊÓƵ — very synergistic to ºüÀêÊÓƵ, with all the other things going on.â€�

But the synergy of Kavanaugh and the Taylor family was the game changer — and, possibly, the game creator. They come from different backgrounds, but each share a similar passion for maximizing ºüÀêÊÓƵ, if you will.

In the Kroenke era, our city’s confidence was shaken. So this ignition is integral.

“I’m a big believer that you need to be thinking more progressively, and it’s not just about donating things — it’s about getting involved,â€� said Kavanaugh, a soccer lifer since his high school days at Rosary to now as the owner of ºüÀêÊÓƵ FC, headed to its first playoff appearance in United Soccer League. “You can look at it from ... a city perspective or a company perspective — you want to create a culture where there’s energy. To do that, it’s not just one thing. It’s not just getting a business downtown. It’s businesses, universities, sports teams, and all of those things, I think, are multipliers.

“And if you do it the right way, you create this multiplier effect. And it becomes contagious in a very positive way. And more and more people want to be involved. And then you start connecting with the kids coming out of school, and they want to stay in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. And one of the individuals from Cultivation Capital said, ‘You know, the young entrepreneurs and technologists that are looking at our organizations will absolutely be looking at MLS as a drawing card for them to come to ºüÀêÊÓƵ.’â€�

As for the Kavanaugh and Taylor work relationship, it’s remarkable for a number of reasons. For one, how quickly it all went down (“This all happened probably in 120 days,� Kavanaugh said). And for how they kept it private during the summer. And for just the sheer perseverance and persistence, notably from Kavanaugh, who was able to re-dream his dream — and turn it into a goal.

They contacted commissioner Don Garber of MLS and shared the news shortly after the late-spring meetings.

Garber was measured in his response. He was open to listening, but had been down this road before, and not just with ºüÀêÊÓƵ.

And now, here we are.

As said by Carolyn Kindle Betz of the ownership group: “Our family really, truly has totally bought into this.�

She meant figuratively, regarding soccer and ºüÀêÊÓƵ. But of course, literally, too.

In the coming months, the #MLS4TheLou group hopes to coordinate a visit from Garber.

“We want to demonstrate to them that ºüÀêÊÓƵ is ready for an MLS team,â€� Kavanaugh said. “At that point in time, we’d want to introduce him to a number of the business leaders in the community who would potentially be supportive of the team and a sponsor. That’s important to MLS. And we’d also want to introduce the commissioner and his staff to some of the political leaders and let them see first-hand how committed they are. …

“Personally, soccer’s been very important to me. Growing up, my dad was a bricklayer. I have nothing to regret from growing up, great parents, great family life. But he was a bricklayer, and it wasn’t like there was a ton of money for him to say, ‘Go to whatever school you want to go to.’ If I didn’t have a soccer scholarship, I would not have been able to afford to go to ºüÀêÊÓƵ University. … I look at the positive impact soccer can have on kids, especially if you do it the right way. … I feel in my heart that soccer can do good things for people, and there’s a good reason to give back to the game.â€�

And giving back to the game also means paying forward in ºüÀêÊÓƵ.