With St. Louis CITY SC nearing its inaugural home match at CITYPARK on March 4, the club today welcomed World Wide Technology (WWT) as one of the team’s Founding Partners. The STLMade company, whose Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Jim Kavanaugh is part of the St. Louis CITY SC ownership group, will serve as Official Technology Partner of the club.
“Jim has been a good friend and part of St. Louis CITY SC’s journey since day one, and I am so grateful for his passion for soccer, partnership with the Taylor family and dedication to fueling growth in our hometown as he was integral to the effort to bring Major League Soccer to St. Louis,” said Carolyn Kindle, St. Louis CITY SC’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “To officially unite World Wide Technology and St. Louis CITY SC under this partnership is incredibly exciting. We are raising the profile of St. Louis on a global scale – within the tech world and within Major League Soccer.”
As Official Technology Partner, WWT has a presence throughout the 31-acre CITYPARK stadium district located in St. Louis’ downtown west and provides the infrastructure that powers the fan experience at the stadium.
“World Wide Technology is honored to join many other incredible organizations in the region to support St. Louis CITY SC,” said Jim Kavanaugh. “Our commitment to St. Louis and giving back has and always will be very important to me, WWT and our employees. St. Louis as the home of our headquarters and the home of many of our employees made becoming a Founding Partner for CITY an easy decision. We are excited to continue to invest in the region and bring people together through the sport of soccer.”
Given this passion and dedication to the community, WWT selected the historically significant southwest corner, Gate D entrance to CITYPARK, as the World Wide Technology Gate. This primary entrance gate is located adjacent to the “Pillars of the Valley,” a permanent art installation along the Brickline Greenway that honors St. Louis’ historic Black neighborhood Mill Creek Valley. Pillars of the Valley recognizes the 20,000 Black residents displaced from the once-thriving Mill Creek Valley neighborhood in the name of urban renewal in the 1950s. CITYPARK sits within the former neighborhood’s footprint.
Furthermore, as part of WWT’s commitment to expanding local diversity and interest of the sport and developing diverse homegrown talent, WWT will also sponsor the CITY Cup. The CITY Cup is one element of CITY SC’s CITY Futures platform, which introduces more people in St. Louis to the game of soccer; it’s always free, and open to children ages 7-12 in the area who are curious about the game and want to improve their skills on and off the pitch. The CITY Cup features players from each of the five CITY Futures satellite locations, allowing participants an introduction to the sport and the opportunity to meet and play with kids from different regional neighborhoods.
“Playing soccer at multiple levels, and the multiple experiences, values, behaviors and habits I learned from soccer, have been absolutely critical to my success on and off the field,” Kavanaugh said. “The work ethic, grit, determination, teamwork along with compassion and caring came from both my parents and the sport. Many leaders at WWT have soccer running in their veins as well.
WWT was founded in 1990 and has grown to become a global technology solution provider with $17 billion in annual revenue. With thousands of IT engineers, hundreds of application developers and unmatched labs for testing and deploying technology at scale, WWT helps customers bridge the gap between IT and the business.
Based in St. Louis, WWT employs 9,000 employees and operates more than 4 million square feet of warehousing, distribution and integration space in more than 20 facilities throughout the world.
Soccer is a lifelong passion of Kavanaugh’s. Born and raised in St. Louis, Kavanaugh played collegiate soccer at St. Louis University. In 1983 he was selected as Missouri amateur player of the year and competed for the United States in the 1983 Pan American Games. He also was part of the United States Olympic Soccer team and traveled with them for 18 months. Kavanaugh played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League for the Los Angeles Lazers and St. Louis Steamers.
Kavanaugh serves on a number of local business, technology, sports and philanthropic boards, including St. Louis University and Stifel Financial Corp.; he is Chairman of St. Louis Scott Gallagher Soccer Club. He’s also an investor/owner of the St. Louis Blues.
“I want to thank Carolyn and everyone at CITY for their incredible work and dedication over these past few years, and a huge thank you to all of our soccer fans and supporters,” said Kavanaugh. “The home opener is going to be an amazing and memorable day for all of St. Louis.”
St. Louis CITY SC played in its first-ever Major League Soccer match on Saturday, February 25 vs. Austin FC in Austin, Texas.
ABOUT ST. LOUIS CITY SC
St. Louis CITY SC, one of the few majority female-led ownership groups in all of professional sports, was awarded Major League Soccer’s 28th expansion team in 2019. The St. Louis-based ownership group unveiled the club’s crest, logo and branding in 2020 and will take the pitch for their historic, inaugural season in 2023. Currently, CITY SC is putting the finishing touches on an STLMade 22,500-seat world-class soccer-specific stadium, practice facility and team headquarters all within the same urban campus in St. Louis’ Downtown West District to create a 24/7/365 fan experience that is furthering St. Louis continued growth and revitalization.
ABOUT WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY
Founded in 1990, World Wide Technology (WWT), a global technology solutions provider with $17 billion in annual revenue, combines the power of strategy, execution and partnership to accelerate digital transformational outcomes for large public and private organizations around the world. Through its Advanced Technology Center, a collaborative ecosystem of the world’s most advanced hardware and software solutions, WWT helps customers and partners conceptualize, test and validate innovative technology solutions for the best business outcomes and then deploys them at scale through its global warehousing, distribution and integration capabilities.
With nearly 9,000 employees and more than 55 locations around the world, WWT’s culture, built on a set of core values and established leadership philosophies, has been recognized 11 years in a row by Fortune and Great Place to Work® for its unique blend of determination, innovation and leadership focus on diversity and inclusion. With this culture at its foundation, WWT bridges the gap between business and technology to make a new world happen for its customers, partners and communities.
