The eagerly anticipated soft opening of Centene Stadium will have to wait.
St. Louis CITY SC announced Wednesday night that this weekend’s planned MLS Next Pro match at the new Downtown West stadium has been moved to Ralph Korte Stadium on the SIU Edwardsville campus due to a power issue. Sunday’s game, a contest between the club’s development squad, CITY 2, and Sporting KC II, was set to double as a stadium preview for season ticket holders.
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“We are very sad about not being able to showcase the new stadium on Sunday,” Carolyn Kindle, CITY’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “We know our fans, players, and staff will be disappointed about not having this preview event, but once we are back up and running, we are looking forward to making the first match in our new home the best fan experience possible.”
In a press release, CITY said an unrelated construction project in the area “adversely affected” Centene Stadium’s internal power distribution system. Joe Abernathy, CITY’s vice president of stadium operations, said in a statement that the stadium is currently operating without full power, which will not be able to be restored by Sunday.
“We are currently working with our stadium construction and operation partners to assess the extent of the issue and better understand the timeline for when we’ll be able to restore full power to the entire stadium,” Abernathy said.
CITY 2’s match in Edwardsville is now a free event open to the public. It will begin at 6 p.m.
