St. Louis City SC was established in 2019 and began play in Major League Soccer in 2023, making it one of the newest clubs in the league. The team is based in St. Louis, Missouri — a city with a deep footballing tradition stretching back more than a century at both the professional and amateur levels. Multiple earlier attempts to bring an MLS franchise to the city had failed over the preceding decade and a half, including a 2017 proposal that was rejected by public referendum. The current bid succeeded largely because its ownership group, led by Carolyn Kindle Betz and female members of the Taylor family of Enterprise Holdings, committed to funding the stadium entirely without public tax revenue.
The club plays its home matches at Energizer Park in Downtown West St. Louis, a purpose-built soccer-specific stadium situated near the iconic Gateway Arch — a landmark whose silhouette also features prominently in the club's crest, alongside two curved lines representing the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
St. Louis City SC made an immediate impact upon entering MLS, becoming the first expansion team in league history to win their first five matches and finishing first in the Western Conference in their inaugural 2023 season. Despite that remarkable debut, they were eliminated in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The club has since developed fierce regional rivalries with Sporting Kansas City and Chicago Fire FC, both rooted in longstanding city and regional identities. The club has yet to claim an MLS Cup title.