CHICAGO – Missouri officials are waiting for the National Football League to decide if the St. Louis Rams can relocate despite a $1 billion stadium financing package designed to keep the team from leaving.
Team owners are meeting on Jan. 12 and 14 to review relocation requests but it's unclear whether they will decide immediately. Rams owner Stan Kroenke wants to move the team to the Los Angeles market but the owners of the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders have proposed a similar move.
The city and state recently finalized a financing package for a new stadium that relies on $400 million in public financing to replace the team's current home – the Edward Jones Dome. The plan was crafted by a task force appointed by Gov. Jay Nixon working with the city and the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority. Columbia Capital Management LLC advised the authority.
Nixon and other supporters have said if the team does move, they hope to lure another franchise with the promise of a new stadium.
The plan calls for a team contribution of $250 million and NFL support of $300 million with another $160 million coming from the sale of seat licenses.
The plan calls for the authority to issue $226 million of debt supported by a state obligation and the city to back another $70.4 million. The public package further includes $47.5 million of Brownfields tax credits, $41 million of other tax credits through the Missouri Development Finance Board, and authority expenses of $14.7 million.
The debt package would be repaid from city funds and existing taxes that now go to repay the dome debt.
As part of the offer, the authority would annually rebate to the Rams proceeds from the city's amusement tax of 5% on all Rams game tickets. The rebate is worth an estimated $3 million in the first year of the lease, growing to an estimated $7 million in the final year for a present value of $65 million.
The stadium would be built in the city's North Riverfront area in time for the 2019 season. The 62,000-seat venue would also include 113 suites, 24 loge boxes, 7,226 club seats, and more than 4,000 parking spaces. The team would be required to sign a 30-year lease with a non-relocation agreement. The authority would own the stadium but be on the hook to maintain lease-imposed standards. The team would pay annual rent of $1.5 million with annual 3% increases and cover operating expenses while receiving all stadium revenues including naming rights and would cover cost overruns.
Legislative critics and groups opposed to public funding for stadiums argue there are better uses for city and state public dollars. The ire of some state lawmakers was also raised by Nixon's decision to bypass the legislature on stadium funding, and some local critics want a public vote.
City comptroller Darlene Green, whose office manages city bonding, is opposed to the structure of the city's commitment and voted against the plan as a member of the city Board of Estimate and Apportionment. The board's other members, Mayor Francis Slay and Aldermanic president Lewis Reed, approved the package that had previously been approved by the Board of Aldermen.
The dome was built with 1995 to lure the Rams to St. Louis from Anaheim, Calif. It was financed with the authority's issuance of $256 million of 30-year appropriation backed bonds under a complex agreement between the city, county, state, commission and team in 1991 to finance the stadium and an expansion of the adjacent convention center.
The state, St. Louis, and St. Louis County together pay $20 million annually to cover debt service on remaining dome bonds issued by the authority and $4 million for maintenance on the dome bonds. The city and county tap hotel and motel taxes to cover their share. The bonds mature in 2021.
The Rams last year shifted to a year-to-year as its lease agreement permits, after the managers of the dome rejected $700 million in improvements required to keep the stadium in top shape as defined under the lease terms. The RCSCA contracts with the Visitors Commission to operate the stadium and it leases the stadium to the team.
