Photography by Ashley Gieseking
Jim Kavanaugh knows sports and business. He played soccer for Saint Louis University, the U.S. Olympic team, and the Major Indoor Soccer League. Today, he’s the CEO of World Wide Technology, which Forbes ranks as the nation’s 59th largest privately held company. Recently, Kavanaugh helped start Saint Louis FC, part of the United Soccer League. Oh, and he’s a minority owner of the Blues. Kavanaugh recently discussed his dual passions: sports and technology.
Why did you start Saint Louis FC?
I’ve played soccer my entire life. I got involved with the [St. Louis] Scott Gallagher Soccer Club a few years ago. I played within that club when I was young, my kids have played in the club, a lot of people I know and their kids have played. [WWT chief financial officer] Tom Strunk and I were asked to get involved with the club from a financial management, business management, and leadership perspective. It was a good opportunity to positively impact the development of soccer in St. Louis, the development of kids on and off the field, and the opportunity to give back to the community.
We helped fund and drive the acquisition of the soccer park into the club—which is a nonprofit—build out additional fields, build out the infrastructure of the entire club. From there, we were approached by the USL Pro League, who was interested in us bringing a team to St. Louis. Normally when that happens, they want an individual owner who is going to run that as a for-profit, not under the umbrella of a not-for-profit. We went back to the USL Pro Team and said this would need to be done under the current umbrella structure, within the club. As long as they were willing to do that, then we would start looking at bringing an USL Pro team to St. Louis. They agreed to that. We started putting things in motion in regards to acquiring that new USL Pro team, funding that, and bringing it here.
USL Pro League president Tim Holt called you “the differentiator,” in that your background in business and soccer were key to getting Saint Louis FC here. Do you agree?
I appreciate his thoughts on that, and I do think it was part of the deal. To have optimal success, it really does require not only people who are passionate about whatever it is you are doing—in this case, soccer—but you are also passionate and bring a level of experience around the business and financial operational side of it. Not only do we have a great community and a club here, but we also have individuals like myself, our CFO Tom Strunk, and other board members that we have brought on who have can make sure this is done in the right way. Without that experience, the risk is you put something out there that will not sustain.
Will Saint Louis FC’s success indicate St. Louis’ chances for a Major League Soccer franchise?
Our primary focus is to create a great experience for the 4,000-plus amateur players we have at Scott Gallagher, helping them develop on and off the field, and then develop our professional club. We’re very focused on creating a great experience for our members and fans. The success of Saint Louis FC will be an indicator of how passionate and supportive the community is around professional soccer… But today, there is no direct linkage saying, “If this works, we’ll put that next [MLS] phase in place.”
SLU won 10 of the first 15 NCAA soccer titles. That history has led some local fans to resist supporting a pro team with players from around the world. Would this be a problem for pro soccer’s future here?
That is a great point. We don’t want to lose the tradition and history of soccer in St. Louis. That being said, the game has changed. The quantity and quality of players in the U.S. shows that it is not just a St. Louis game—it’s a U.S. game, a global game… The rest of the United States and the world has continued to progress; I don’t believe St. Louis has progressed at the same pace. This is a step that will allow us to leverage that history and tradition but also keep an eye on the future. It’s a balance. The team cannot be all St. Louis players—that’s just not the reality of how you can field a team today. We’d like to have as many St. Louis players as possible, but only if they have that caliber and quality that fit the need of the team.
World WideTechnology plans to build a $60 million headquarters at Westport Plaza that will open next year, but it also has offices around the world. Has that exposure to international soccer fueled your desire to get involved locally?
It’s not a prerequisite to work at World Wide; though some people think that is the case, that’s not the truth. I think soccer is definitely on the rise in a big way. The U.S. is just scratching the surface. Our entire executive team thinks this is a good way to support a game that has been good to us.
Scott Gallagher has a massive organization for local youth soccer. What is your view of national critics who say U.S. soccer needs to broaden its base of participation so more central city youths won’t be kept from playing because of an inability to pay team fees and lack of access to fields and training?
I definitely think a broader base of players would help the national team I think the game of soccer and the community overall—to be able to connect with a broader base of kids and in different city environments—that’s all good. I think the game of soccer and the quality of players and development have increased and will continue to increase even with what we have today. We even look at it locally: How do we connect better to a broader base of kids with different backgrounds and personalities? Some of it is a logistics piece and a financial piece. We’re wrestling with some of that ourselves. If the U.S. Soccer Federations and soccer clubs can do a better job connecting in those areas, it will be good for the game.
