After several missteps it looks like the Minnesota Vikings' stadium plan is nearing approval, and it's a big one: Nearly $1 billion, as the Minnesota senate passed it, with a little less than half funded by the public. That leaves the St. Louis Rams with the biggest stadium controversy in the NFL, and it continues to confuse observers; the latest news is that the Rams have proposed an enormously costly retractable roof in addition to the measures the CVC suggested in its own $124 million renovation plan.
↵That leaves us questioning how serious the Rams are about staying in St. Louis. Of course, we're already deeply opposed to funding stadiums with public money in the first place, but a retractable roof on a stadium that wasn't built for it? That could rapidly bring the tab up to what it would cost to build a brand new stadium, which leads me to believe that might be the Rams' intent in the first place.
↵This sort of sports-team extortion is increasingly common and incredibly frustrating, and as much as I like watching the Rams I think St. Louis should tell them to stick it, if it comes to that. Minnesota's stadium is probably going to be nice, but I can think of other things to do with $400 million.
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