SB Nation St. Louis - Rams Stadium Renovation: Economics Factors Weigh Against Renovating The Edward Jones Dome

St. Louis Rams stadium controversy to come to blows in January

2012-11-06T23:35:15Z

After spending most of the 2012 NFL season on pause, the St. Louis Rams' stadium negotiations with the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission will finally be sent to arbitration on January 14, according to a report from Jim Thomas at the Post-Dispatch. The hearing will definitely give us more information about the fate of the maligned Edward Jones Dome, and it'll probably tell us more about the fate of pro football in St. Louis, at least until we finally get an XFL team.

This is the way the controversy ends—not with a move to Los Angeles but an arbitration hearing. Whether the Rams leave St. Louis or not, the next year or so is likely to play out in this distended, gawky way. I'm not as confident as some are that the Rams are going to end up in St. Louis at the end of the proceedings—public funding of NFL stadiums has distorted the market for them almost beyond recognition, but who in town really wants to foot the bill?—but if they're on their way out, we won't really know for a while.

But now, thanks to the P-D, we at least know the next date we'll not-know something new.

Edward Jone Dome Renovation: City Offering To Spend 'Tens Of Millions More' In A New Proposal

2012-08-21T13:56:28Z

A new Edward Jones Dome renovation plan was submitted to the Rams on Monday, and while most expect the team to turn down the offer, it presents a significantly closer offer that, if accepted, would ensure the Rams stay in St. Louis.

The first stadium proposal from St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission (CVC) was for a stadium renovation that was estimated to cost about $124 million and the cost would be split between the Rams and CVC. The Rams rejected the deal and rebutted with a proposal of their own that was reportedly estimated by city officials to cost about $700 million.

While the newest proposal doesn't come close to approaching the Rams' figure, it does represent a significant increase in the dollar amount, according to Kitty Ratcliffe, president of the CVC.

"It's not doubling or anything like that," Ratcliffe told Jesse Bogan of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. "We know it will be tens of millions more."

The renovation plans come due to a requirement in the team's lease that Edward Jones Dome is a "first tier" stadium by the year 2015. Otherwise, the Rams will have the potential option to leave the city if a renovation to meet the requirement is not accomplished.

Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.

Rams Relocation To Los Angeles By 2014 Predicted By CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora Of

2012-07-10T13:50:03Z

The St. Louis Rams the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission board have agreed to enter binding arbitration over competing proposals to make the Edward Jones Dome a "first tier" facility to satisfy a specific clause in the stadium lease that would otherwise allow the team to leave the city a few years down the line, and that process may determine the Rams' future in St. Louis. There is a strong tide suggesting the NFL will soon return to the city of Los Angeles -- the Rams, Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers are the most likely franchises to relocate -- and Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports decided to handicap the field with some help from his L.A. and league sources.

Here is what La Canfora offered up in his latest column on relocation to Los Angeles:

Several sources, if they had to handicap the field -- and it remains murky due to pending results of an arbitration issue on the Rams' lease and a possible San Diego vote on a stadium referendum in 2013 -- leaned to the Rams as being the team they would pick if they had to.

...Owner Stan Kroenke has ties to L.A., the team still has an office in the area, and Kroenke has been noncommittal at best about any long-term future in Missouri...

"If the arbitrator comes back and says 500, 600 or 700 million, then, yes, they're the prime candidate if they aren't already," one league source said. "But if he comes back and says 250 million, then St. Louis stays. They could go from being the frontrunner to being out of the running."

In the conclusion to his longer analysis in the article, La Canfora predicts that "it will be the Rams in time for the 2014 season" but admits the landscape could still change. Back at the end of June, Ryan Van Bibber of Turf Show Times has some calming words for anyone worried about relocation.

Roger Goodell's Relocation Memo Puts Rams, Chargers And NFL On Notice

2012-06-30T14:57:51Z

The St. Louis Rams and the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission have been busy all offseason submitting competing proposals to make the Edward Jones Dome a "first tier" facility to satisfy a specific clause in the stadium lease that would allow the Rams to potentially leave the city otherwise, but NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wants the Rams to know any relocation talk is subject to league approval. Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times recently reported on a memo from Goodell sent to all 32 NFL teams that reiterates the league's control over any potential relocation to Los Angeles.

The Rams are set to begin arbitration over the stadium renovation dispute with the CVC after the parties failed to reach an agreement on their own, and the team sounds committed to staying in St. Louis, but if the issue of relocation did advance there are many ways the league would oversee the process. Essentially, any team intending to relocate for the 2013 season would need to submit an formal application between Jan. 1 and Feb. 15 that year and prove they have exhausted all attempts to remain in their current location. They would also need a clear rationale for why their proposed location is a better option than other destinations in the team's current market.

Rams fans, it isn't time to panic. Ryan Van Bibber of Turf Show Times has some calming words for anyone worried about relocation:

Even with no solution via arbitration, the Rams and the CVC, city, county and state can take this thing all the way to the brink in March 2014. That's what happened in Minnesota, and going right up to the deadline seems to be the rule in anything involving politicians.

The Chargers and the Raiders are in better positions to bolt before the Rams do.

Don't panic. I know the mouthbreathers on talk radio don't want to believe it, but the Rams aren't looking for an easy out here. I'm worldly enough to acknowledge the possibility that anything could happen, but the team has made a commitment to sink its roots here, in the wake of Georgia Frontiere's disastrous period of ownership. That was made pretty clear record in my visit with the team in Joplin last week.

St. Louis CVC Initiates Arbitration With Rams Over Edward Jones Dome Renovation Dispute

2012-06-14T19:29:48Z

On Thursday, the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission board voted in favor of entering binding arbitration with the St. Louis Rams over competing proposals to make the Edward Jones Dome a "first tier" facility to satisfy a specific clause in the stadium lease. Although the CVC had one more day to reach an agreement with the Rams, Matthew Hathaway of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the board held a short 23-minute meeting via teleconference to vote and initiate the arbitration process on Thursday.

The St. Louis Rams submitted an estimated $700 million renovation plan for the Edward Jones Dome that the CVC rejected on June 1. Prior to that, the Rams rejected the CVC's initial $124 million plan submitted back on March 1.

The situation stems from that would allow the Rams to opt out in 2015 if the Edward Jones Dome is not deemed to be a "first-tier" facility among the top-eight stadiums in the NFL. The proposals by both parties were designed to address that clause in the lease, but without a mutually acceptable agreement the Rams and the CVC will handle the issue through binding arbitration.

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly Of The St. Louis Rams Dome Negotiations

2012-06-09T14:00:14Z

Next week the and the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission will announce that they have not come to an agreement independently on a proposal for the Edward Jones Dome that would satisfy both sides.

After the negotiating deadline expires on June 15, the two entities will be entered into a semi-binding arbitration process that is expected to take several months, if not the rest of 2012.

The best offer the CVC could muster for the Rams? 124 million dollars of renovation that calls for new paneling tp let some natural light in, a new digital scoreboard and enhanced club seating.

The least the Rams could accept from the CVC? 700 million dollars of renovation that call for pretty much everything but the infrastructure to be gutted and then redone real fancy. In this plan,you wouldn't recognize the dome as it currently sits and it’d pretty much be like getting a new stadium.

Ok. So we’re not really that close here are we? Believe or not, there is some good news, some bad news and some ugly news in all of this information.

The good news

The CVC could have come to the table with an insulting offer, something like $35 million dollars to make some cosmetic changes, and really wiped their hands of this whole ordeal. After all, if the Rams decided to move, the CVC could spin this as a greedy owner trying to take advantage of the tax base, with the CVC, luckily, here to stand up to ‘the man’ and protect our wallets and unborn babies from the burden of the evil Rams.

It wouldn’t have appeased many, you know, Rams fans. But in the grand scheme of things, most St. Louisans aren’t Rams fans. At least not to the point where they want to pay new taxes to keep them in STL.

So the CVC is at least acknowledging that the Rams are an integral part of the community and that they want them to stay. After all, this is a negotiation. They weren’t going to come in anywhere close to their high end. So if 124 million is a what they consider a starting point, then that’s reasonable.

The bad news:

576 million dollars isn’t a small gap.

Think of it this way- Busch Stadium 3’s cost in total? $365 million. So just the gap alone is nearly Busch Stadium and a half. And that’s a stadium that draws almost as many people as a Rams game 81 times per year, as opposed to 8.

Further, the BS that the CVC spewed about the EJD being a world-class facility that would attract new and exciting convention business has proven to be grossly overstated. Since opening in 1995, the EJD has rarely been utilized for big convention events. Take away motocross and monster truck events and the damn thing has barely been used at all outside of football. So the ‘this is going to help STL’ angle is all but shot.

Maybe the Pope can do an encore?

The Rams will come off their number, as will the CVC. When the numbers are this high, the best negotiators in town are on the job and generally the best grind out every detail before consummating a deal. But again, in a baseball town, is $576 million too big a gap to be bridged?

The ugly news:

It’s the proverbial elephant in the room: Los Angeles.

It’s the second biggest TV market in the US and sans a franchise in the most popular sport in America. Many are speculating the NFL loves having that market open so it can leverage better deals on stadiums for all of its teams before actually moving one to the city (see: Minneapolis, Indianapolis.) And when the time comes where a city wants to play hardball, that city will lose their NFL team.

St. Louis lost the Cardinals in the 1980’s. And if they lost the Rams in the 2010s, then there is absolutely no going back to professional football in this city ever again. In fact, it’s more likely that medical information will completely eliminates football in its current form than that St. Louis will lose and then regain an NFL franchise yet again.

The Rams have the hammer here. And the CVC can ‘negotiate’ with the team all they want. But at any point if the Rams don’t accept an offer, they can play out their time here and then move to LA for a ton of money. Their posture now is confident, but it may not be by the time Christmas comes. They have zero leverage, while the Rams can make choices based on what maximizes profit for them.

Ugh.

Friends: We knew that this negotiation was headed to an arbiter before this very public song and dance started. We learned a bunch of details on where the sides’ heads are at. We know that answers are closer than they ever have been before. Now it’s just a matter of time to see just how greedy/giving both the Rams and the CVC are.

2014 is coming quicker than we thought.

St. Louis Rams' Proposal Rejected By CVC, June 15 Marks Arbitration Date

2012-06-01T16:22:35Z

As expected, on Friday morning the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission formally rejected the St. Louis Rams' estimated $700 million proposal to renovation the Edward Jones Dome. June 1 was set as the deadline for the CVC's decision after the Rams rejected the agency's $124 million plan submitted back on March 1. Now the two parties have until June 15 to agree on a renovation plan that would satisfy a clause in the stadium lease requiring the Edward Jones Dome to rank among the top-eight stadiums in the NFL by 2015.

If no agreement is reached before June 15, the matter will head to arbitration. Even so, is there a proposal that makes economic sense for the taxpayers in St. Louis?

June 1 Marks A St. Louis Rams Dome Proposal Deadline

2012-06-01T13:23:20Z

On May 1, the St. Louis Rams submitted a counter-proposal to the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission regarding renovation plans for the Edward Jones Dome -- the addition of a retractable roof is one of the centerpieces of the team's plan -- and June 1 is the deadline for the CVC to either accept or reject the team's proposal. The CVC initially submitted their own $124 million plan on March 1, but it was rejected by the Rams. Both parties are trying to address a clause in the stadium lease that would allow the Rams to leave St. Louis in 2015 if the dome is not ranked among the top-eight stadiums in the NFL.

If the parties cannot reach an agreement by June 15 the issue will be handled through arbitration.