St. Louis Rams

goat314 · PostApr 04, 2013#10762013-04-04T02:54+00:00

dredger wrote:
kmurph42 wrote:I thought the proposed tax for the streetcar was only for the city?
I was thinking in terms of two competing projects for federal funds/new starts. Think both will go down that road to try to make the respective projects happen

I dont think having two new start transit projects seeking federal funding at the same time should hurt either proposal. Similar sized regions like Portland and Denver have been seeking and receiving federal funds at a much faster rate than many larger cities. I really wish regional leadership would get some gusto and push for Northside-Southside and Westport at the same time and package it as a revitalization effort in the city and multimodal expansion in the county. Although I do think the Westport proposal is rather weak. Any effort would need serious help from MoDot though. Any chance this MoDot tax proposal includes light rail expansion? I wonder if local officials have even considered the possibilities.

pat · PostApr 04, 2013#10772013-04-04T13:31+00:00

The name escapes me, but a local house representative from STL tried to amend the bill to require 15% of the new sales tax to go towards transit. It failed.

Back to the topic...

I think the Rams location really just depends on where they want to go. I get the feeling that people (city and county) can't really stomach footing the bill for a new Rams stadium.

It would be cool if instead of giving the Rams some sort of tax "deal" to build a stadium, the city would require their involvement in some sort of development. (I realize the likelihood). For example, the city fronts/loans $300 million to help fund the construction of a new stadium. But the city requires that the the Rams funds some percentage of the costs of a new NS streetcar/metrolink line. Is something like that doable? I'm thinking of something similar to what was required of Pinnacle, but this time actually hold them to it.

rawest1 · PostApr 04, 2013#10782013-04-04T13:40+00:00

It's important to remind everyone that we're probably not talking about footing the bill for an entire stadium. It's more likely going to be something along the lines of an 800 mil-1B dollar stadium with the Rams paying for about 2/3 of it.

dredger · PostApr 04, 2013#10792013-04-04T15:14+00:00

^ Puts taxpayer support at about $200 to $300. Agree, sounds a lot more manageable then the actually cost of a new stadium. However, I think you have to account for some hard political reality that hurts the region more then help.

1) St. Charles/Exburb counties or roughly 1/3 of Missouri side of Metro has no intention of funding transit. Going back to Goat's comments to which I owe a reply.

Ideally, would like to see build out and support for both metrolink and city streetcars. However, that burden is solely on the county and city as state funds is non existent and 1/3 of metro wants no part of it.

2) County/City still have to foot EDJ bonds. That doesn't go away with new stadium. Instead it adds to tax burden.

3) St. Charles County didn't even want to give residents a chance to vote on the Arch Grounds/Parks/GRG tax and the county passed on a 3%. Int he end, a regional vote on a specific tax was a hard sale and didn't happen. Like Transit, it became County/City deciding and willing to support a regional investment in the Arch Grounds

I think support for new a RAMS stadium by the region as a whole is dubious until some hard numbers and a decent proposal comes out. In other words, I think RAMS need to come out with a solid plan with distinct preferences on location - Open air with x number of skyboxes with first choice being downtown/riverfront, second choice is Fenton and so on. Sooner the beter.

roger wyoming II · PostApr 04, 2013#10802013-04-04T16:15+00:00

goat314 wrote:
dredger wrote: Any effort would need serious help from MoDot though. Any chance this MoDot tax proposal includes light rail expansion? I wonder if local officials have even considered the possibilities.

As someone mentioned, the Sen. Keaveny amendment requiring at least 15% for MODOT failed. However, the current language does appear to make it possible for the local share to include transit. The bill calls for a list of projects that would be funded if the tax passes to be available to the public before the vote, but I am not sure if this is only for MODOT share or also for local share.

btw, Transportation Lobby Day is on Monday.... anyone who wants to attend can contact Trailnet or Mo Bike Fed for more info. I believe Trailnet is having a vanpool Momday morning.

PostApr 04, 2013#10812013-04-04T16:19+00:00

Here is my proposal for the Rams stadium.... Rams and NFL pay full costs of NFL stadium; regional tax pays for costs of the stadium associated with accommodating a new MLS team.

rawest1 · PostApr 04, 2013#10822013-04-04T21:27+00:00

roger wyoming II wrote:Here is my proposal for the Rams stadium.... Rams and NFL pay full costs of NFL stadium; regional tax pays for costs of the stadium associated with accommodating a new MLS team.

If a stadium could be built that would accommodate both, I don't see why we as a region should favor one sport over the other.

dredger · PostApr 10, 2013#10832013-04-10T06:04+00:00

Would it be safe to say that the arbitration is winding down now that they are getting a ruling on who pays whose legal fees? Unless I'm mistaken, is the next step a matter of waiting on a new stadium proposal to be floated by the RAMS organization?

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt ... b92d5.html

Don't know what to make of Goldman Sachs and the SEC deal, another over rated over priced firm like every other financial player behind bond dealings. Maybe with a little light shown on by SEC the financials boys won't make as big as a killing when a deal eventually gets down to finance a stadium.

However, chuckled at the comment by Jones, Dooley's aide, quoted at the end of the article

Jones, Dooley’s aide, said the county needs to be kept in the loop about Goldman’s work.

“If they are half as smart as they are expensive, they should make a call out here to Clayton if they want a deal,” he said. “If you want us in at the landing, I’d better be in the plane when it takes off.”

rawest1 · PostApr 10, 2013#10842013-04-10T14:20+00:00

If I'm not mistaken, Goldmann Sachs is pretty much the experts when it comes to financing stadium deals, so it makes sense that they'd be brought in for their analysis. You may think they're overrated and/or overpriced, and maybe you're right, but they've also got a hand in pretty much every stadium deal for the past decade or so, so they probably know what they're doing better than most.

gone corporate · PostApr 10, 2013#10852013-04-10T17:59+00:00

^Absolutely. Goldman Sachs is hands-down the smartest firm on Wall Street and runs a truly stellar global consulting services operations for its clients. They are also the preeminent experts on sports franchises as businesses. It's not only that I'm glad GS is part of this deal - if I ever heard they had turned down business involving a team, I'd think that would be a death knell for that team as an ongoing enterprise. They are simply the best.

At issue here is the incorporation of new Dodd-Frank regulations. The SEC is having to look into into the operations of a broker/dealer whose business may include one division consulting a municipality on its financing options while another division is in the process of positioning investments based on that municipality. While it may call itself an adviser seeking the best interests of the Rams as its consulting client, it also may be calling itself a fiduciary to the firm's investor clients as they underwrite municipal "Rams" bonds.

Since GS can underwrite bonds for STL, can it still act as a consultant for STL?
And remain independent to both the Rams and the firm's investor clients they plan to sell Rams bonds to?

This is about securities procedures and protocol, not football.

Meanwhile, Mike Jones should be mad at the CVC, not GS. GS was hired and brought it; it didn't just swoop in uninvited. And I don't think GS would have the legal authority to share its findings with a third party without the CVC's authorizations first. Sounds much more like they're scapegoating Goldman while really fighting between the City and County again.

dredger · PostApr 10, 2013#10862013-04-10T20:17+00:00

gone corporate wrote:Meanwhile, Mike Jones should be mad at the CVC, not GS. GS was hired and brought it; it didn't just swoop in uninvited. And I don't think GS would have the legal authority to share its findings with a third party without the CVC's authorizations first. Sounds much more like they're scapegoating Goldman while really fighting between the City and County again.

That makes a lot of sense, I did get a kick out of the comment as my first impression is that really made Mike Jones on behalf of Dooely look bad as he latched onto the first public forum he could, like someone crying over spilled milk.

Another question, is their any reason for the county/city not to do a new stadium through the CVC if they want to be the facility owners? In other words, any need to create a separate entity?

Obviouisly, RAMS could propose something different. Their own stadium with assistance/subsidies/entertainment tax rolled into financing.

Curious on how this will all play out, CVC deal or a stand alone deal like Busch Stadium. My thought is a stand alone deal would be a better outcome for CVC if it comes down to a new stadium. I think CVC will much better off being able to focus all its energy to the conventino business and exploit EDJ as convention space. The city and region would benefit with more conventions and the RAMS focusing on their game.

ntbpo · PostApr 10, 2013#10872013-04-10T21:23+00:00

Dredger-- I couldn't agree more. I am fine with the Rams moving out of downtown since they are only draw for 10 games a year anyway. A city/county effort for an open air stadium in the county would be fine with me. In regards to the EJD I think that this could be a great opportunity. I would remove all the seats, and floor off each level for a total of four individual levels (escalators/elevators , restrooms, concessions etc..already in place). Using the size of the football field and the approximate size of the sidelines we would be looking at a total of appx 75,000-80,000 sq ft per level. 300,000ish sq ft of extra convention space would be a definite plus for downtown imo.

dweebe · PostApr 12, 2013#10882013-04-12T20:39+00:00

ntbpo wrote:Dredger-- I couldn't agree more. I am fine with the Rams moving out of downtown since they are only draw for 10 games a year anyway. A city/county effort for an open air stadium in the county would be fine with me. In regards to the EJD I think that this could be a great opportunity. I would remove all the seats, and floor off each level for a total of four individual levels (escalators/elevators , restrooms, concessions etc..already in place). Using the size of the football field and the approximate size of the sidelines we would be looking at a total of appx 75,000-80,000 sq ft per level. 300,000ish sq ft of extra convention space would be a definite plus for downtown imo.

If the county and Fenton want to spend their tax money for a venue used 10 times a year for pro football and maybe 10 more times for other events (concerts, college football etc) at the old Chrysler factory site: then go right ahead.

gary kreie · PostApr 30, 2013#10892013-04-30T17:37+00:00

Now that the Rams have effectively killed all dome improvement proposals by demanding Taj Mahal in order to get out of the last 1/3 of their lease, where do we stand? Wasn't CVC supposed to come back and at least reject the arbitration result by now?

I guess the dome is dead -- CVC now has no incentive to make improvements there anymore unless the Rams offer something in return.

rawest1 · PostApr 30, 2013#10902013-04-30T17:39+00:00

My guess is we won't hear a lot about this until the Rams' lease is up. The most recent news we have is that there is work going on behind the scenes for a stadium to be built north of the Edward Jones Dome.

My hope is still an open-air stadium that can house both an NFL and MLS team, ala CenturyLink Field in Seattle

dweebe · PostMay 07, 2013#10912013-05-07T17:17+00:00

Looks like the Dolphins are a new candidate for moving to Los Angeles after being denied public money to spruce up their stadium.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1630 ... &hpt=hp_c4

Nothing clear-cut: but still interesting.

rawest1 · PostMay 07, 2013#10922013-05-07T17:23+00:00

dweebe wrote:Looks like the Dolphins are a new candidate for moving to Los Angeles after being denied public money to spruce up their stadium.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1630 ... &hpt=hp_c4

Nothing clear-cut: but still interesting.

Miami will be the next team in a long line of succession that will ultimately hammer out a deal involving some public funds. Come on, folks, we've seen this story play out so many times recently. Minnesota, San Francisco, Carolina, Atlanta, etc. Ultimately, the Dolphins will end up getting a deal done for the same reason that all of those places did.

Same reasons why ultimately, the Rams will get some kind of deal done too.

dweebe · PostMay 07, 2013#10932013-05-07T17:43+00:00

rawest1 wrote:
dweebe wrote:Looks like the Dolphins are a new candidate for moving to Los Angeles after being denied public money to spruce up their stadium.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1630 ... &hpt=hp_c4

Nothing clear-cut: but still interesting.
Miami will be the next team in a long line of succession that will ultimately hammer out a deal involving some public funds. Come on, folks, we've seen this story play out so many times recently. Minnesota, San Francisco, Carolina, Atlanta, etc. Ultimately, the Dolphins will end up getting a deal done for the same reason that all of those places did.

Same reasons why ultimately, the Rams will get some kind of deal done too.

The only reason this could be different this time is south Florida is very ticked off after what the Miami Marlins did.

chaifetz10 · PostMay 07, 2013#10942013-05-07T17:46+00:00

^Exactly! And I don't blame them. Heck, what they should do is just suggest the Dolphins play in the new Miami Marlins stadium.

rawest1 · PostMay 09, 2013#10952013-05-09T01:32+00:00

Yesterday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch beat-writer who is assigned to cover the St. Louis Rams, Jim Thomas, had this to say in his weekly chat:

With the talk about the Dophlins Staduim, anymore news in St Louis about a new Staduim or upgrades on the old one?

by Slim 2:37 PM yesterday
Permalink

Pretty quiet. But I hear Gov. Nixon is now leading the effort.

by jthomas 2:38 PM yesterday

dweebe · PostMay 14, 2013#10962013-05-14T20:18+00:00

The Minnesota Vikings are showing off the design of their new stadium. Pretty wild.

http://www.vikings.com/media-vault/phot ... fdf30b73c6

rawest1 · PostMay 14, 2013#10972013-05-14T20:59+00:00

That looks pretty freaking sweet

gone corporate · PostMay 14, 2013#10982013-05-14T21:10+00:00

From another angle, you'd swear Jawas were gonna come out of it, along with the droids you were looking for...

dweebe · PostMay 14, 2013#10992013-05-14T21:45+00:00

The Atlanta Falcons are also moving along on their proposal to replace the Georgia Dome.

dredger · PostMay 15, 2013#11002013-05-15T21:19+00:00

dweebe wrote:The Minnesota Vikings are showing off the design of their new stadium. Pretty wild.

http://www.vikings.com/media-vault/phot ... fdf30b73c6

I think this is one of the more interesting comments on the Vikings proposed stadium as per a Engineering News Record article. The article has a couple more renderings including inside with half of the roof allowing sunlight to pass through. Still trying to figure out how to transfer the renderings over or post a jpeg file.

http://enr.construction.com/opinions/bl ... d=blogDest

The roof structure of the stadium will include a single large steel truss providing primary support for main long span roof. The southern half of the stadium roof will be made of a transparent ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) membrane supported by steel. According to the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, it will be the largest ETFE roof in the world and the first used on a stadium in the U.S.

St. Louis Rams

Choose Display Mode