St. Louis’ Major League Soccer team, St. Louis City, has tapped Purina as its first founding and jersey sponsor. Team co-owner Carolyn Kindle Betz and Nestlé Purina PetCare president and CEO Nina Leigh Krueger made the announcement in a March 31 YouTube presentation. 

Betz said the Purina logo will appear prominently on the front of team jerseys, and the two organizations will work closely to incorporate youth- and animal-related programming into the team’s priorities. 

She and Krueger added that they hope to make the St. Louis team and stadium among the most pet-friendly in the league. “Pets and people are better together,” Krueger said. 

The history-making franchise is the first MLS team to be led by an all-female ownership group, which includes Betz and other members of the Taylor family. The team’s new stadium is under construction downtown, just west of Union Station, and is scheduled to kick off its inaugural season of play in 2023.

Featured image courtesy of stlcitysc.com