WE NEED HIM BACK: The Owner of Minnesota United Bill McGuire announced to sell the team

St. Paul was Bill McGuire’s initial target for a soccer-specific stadium. That was in 2012, and it never really took off.

The owner of Minnesota United FC attempted, unsuccessfully, to secure political support for a stadium in Minneapolis in 2015, the year before.

McGuire will take center stage at a press conference on Friday to announce that his team will be an expansion franchise in Major League Soccer for the 2017 campaign. He will celebrate the addition of a second major professional sports team to St. Paul and will have willed it to succeed.

As we look at it now, perhaps serendipity was involved. McGuire said this to the Pioneer Press on Monday. “We believe we have the ideal scenario in the end.”

McGuire stated that his team is working in “good faith” in the hopes that the $150 million stadium project they have planned for the “Bus Barn” site in the Midway neighborhood will be confirmed to have the favorable political backing of the Legislature and the city of St. Paul. The site plan still needs to be approved by the city, and the state needs to resolve other matters before it can offer the property tax exemption that its voters overwhelmingly approved.

Former UnitedHealth Group CEO McGuire hinted that the 21,500-seat stadium might be available for the team to use as early as the 2018 campaign. Meanwhile, United FC is anticipated to play at the TCF Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota the following season, which runs from March to November.

During a 32-minute interview, McGuire talked about the development of the current team, his aspirations for the franchise, and the varied and occasionally fruitless routes to building the kind of stadium required by MLS. He did not address the impending rebranding from Minnesota United FC, though it is anticipated that the new name, “Minnesota FC,” will be revealed at the news conference on Friday at CHS Field in Lowertown.

PP: What was your first Minnesota Stars game in 2012, and how did you feel about the team owned by the league at the time?

BM: The match that comes to mind is the one from the playoffs’ first half, which we won at the spectators tore down the fence at the conclusion. That’s the one I can still recall. Someone remarked to us after we left with a sizable lead in points, “With that cushion, you can’t possibly lose.” Then we were defeated.

PP: Were you originally thinking that this was something you wanted to buy?

BM: Initially, the main goal was to gain an understanding of the nature of this and its potential significance for the community. It was less about us individually and more about making a difference in the community. I never really considered it to be a business proposal; rather, I saw it as something that we should have and that we should be able to accomplish in a reasonable manner. Then it kind of went too far.

PP: In December 2012, you and Nick Rogers, the club president at the time, exchanged an email discussing the St. Paul “Bus Barn” location.

BM: Two distinct memos were present. The first one was actually a year prior, when Rogers was in Washington and he and his brother, a goalie in Maryland, were watching Major League Soccer. “Pretty decent soccer and had I ever thought about doing this up here?” he remarked. Next, fast-forward to 2012 and what we witnessed at Blaine’s National Sports Center. They were just extremely energized; there weren’t many people up there. How can we move this to a more accessible location so that many people can access it as individuals? That was the conversation regarding the so-called “Bus Barn.”