Not sure about Rex, but I so want a sports franchise called the St. Louis King's now. Great great name/logo idea for a franchise here.I think King Rex should take ownership.... maybe change the name to the Saint Louis Kings and get a cool chess logo. Anything to keep his money away from grubby politico hands.
This is what alarmed me the most. While Demoff states that the Rams want a solution to the stadium issue, he seems non-committal to me. I think where those guys dropped the ball, is to get into specific items, like WILL the Rams file for relocation in Feb. of this year, has Stan looked into buying the rest of the Hollywood Park land, address other specific reports..etc.. I do like the fact that Randy told him that his sources say Stan will for sure TRY to move the team.there are no promises past this season
And he'll play that game up until the moment the moving vans pull into Rams Park. Then he'll almost immediately change his tone and story and be "See ya. Wouldn't wanna be ya!"blzhrpmd2 wrote:Gee, sounded a lot like what he's said since the whole thing started. I agree with his stance that they have been consistent from the beginning. Stan's way is his way and he doesn't budge.
It seemed the evolution of tactics is happening as this time it moved more from "we're focusing on this season" to "there are no promises past this season" but we will work hard to explore options.
He also was firm to debunk any rumor that any decision has been made. Randy came off sounding a little like an alarmist, as he quoted phrases from the relocation laws and Demoff acted like he had no idea what the rules were. I'd guess there's some posturing there, but still....affirms that Demoff is good at his job.
Concern with Edward Jones Dome renovation proposed by the Rams:
Rainford said that in addition to the projected $700 million cost, the dome would have to be closed for up to three years to make the improvements. Because the dome is part of the convention center, the city would also stand to lose $500 million in convention revenue, he said.
Solution:
The convention expansion would be built before the Dome renovation proposed by the Rams allowing St. Louis to keep its conventions and not losing $500 million in convention revenue. Once the expansion is complete start the renovations to the Dome when the NFL season is over in late January/February. For example if the convention expansion is complete in Feb. 2017 or 2018. The renovated Rams Stadium could be finished for the 2019 or 2020 season.
Solution that works for the St. Louis Region, Taxpayers, and Rams:
Develop the land north of the Dome aka. Bottle district. Expand the convention by 300,000 square ft. The expansion would include concepts from the original bottle district proposed by Daniel Libeskind and Afshin Ghazi with a mixture of convention space retail and entertainment. Instead of three towers build one large tower for residential and hotel space. (http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index ... enderings/)
Why spend invest money in this project?
The convention center expansion would increase our convention space 1 million square feet putting St. Louis in the Top in conventions center space. larger convention center space will allow St. Louis to get more conventions that will generate more revenue for the city (region) and state.
What kind of events would this convention expansion attract?
Rams games of course Super bowl, Final four (every five years ??), MLS team, SEC championship, Soccer friendly’s (ex. Bosnia and Italy ), National Democratic and Republican conventions. Will attract top conventions in the country ex. National Science conventions such as American Association for Cancer Research (AACR ) and top biotechnology conventions which coincides with central corridors vision as a leader in biotechnology in US.
How much will convention expansion cost?
Between 1-1.2 Billion dollars Approx. 700-800 million for the renovation of the Dome rest ($ 300-400) spent on the expansion of convention center. (residential and hotel space, entertainment, large parking lot)
Benefits for the St. Louis Metro region.
• Would complete/ complement the 2.5 Billion dollars in the revitalization of downtown St. Louis.
• Will increase the population of downtown St. Louis.
• Will make downtown St. Louis a 24hr place.
• Will give the 4 million tourists visiting the Arch more options when exploring St. Louis.
• Would give the best sport fans in the world another place to watch their local teams (Rams, Cardinals, Blues, MLS team?)
• Will allow the expansion of businesses in north downtown STL around the new Stan Musical Bridge i.e. a nice park for rams tailgating along with residential development.
• Creates jobs, jobs, jobs (construction, retail, restaurants)
Who pays for the expansion project?
• NFL $ 200 million G-4 loan
• State and local government $ 400-500 million (increase taxes on cigarettes, hotels, rental car, lottery, and money generate from parking lots built around site of the stadium/convention (30,000 parking spots) $15-20 on events days. Approx. $ 600,000 for one event !!!! 50-100 events a year (i.e. Rams Cardinals, Blues, MLS team, Final four conventions people just visiting STL ) approx. 30-60 million a year from parking alone !!!!
• Rams $ 400-500 million give Kronke land part of the Bottle district to develop
Why do we need this project for the greater St. Louis region?
There is no way that cities like Nashville, Louisville, Austin, and Charlotte should have bigger convention centers than St. Louis. http://www.statista.com/statistics/2551 ... d-by-size/
Some ideas for bottle district:
Rain forest café , ESPN Zone, Residential/ Retail and Entertainment
Karraker: Kevin, do you have any idea what it would take to get the Rams to commit to staying in St. Louis?
Demoff: Well, I think overall Randy it goes back to what we've always talked about: a global solution for St. Louis on a stadium front. A stadium that brings great events back to St. Louis, that brings Mizzou-Illinois, that bring Final Fours. You've heard me say this before. It's also gotta be a solution that works for the community. It's not just a Rams issue...
...I know everybody can sit here and say, especially this weekend, "The building can rock like it did in 1999," which is absolutely true. If we play better football, it will be loud, passionate. But in terms of getting people off the couch away from television which is a fight that everybody in the NFL is going through and everybody in sports is going through, how do we improve the fan experience and give them the best? I think that's the solution. If we can come up with it whether it's downtown, whether it's in the county, whether it's somewhere else, I think we'd be in favor of it.
Here is what an SRO section looks like at the O2 Arena in Berlin.gary kreie wrote:I found a piece on new stadium concepts, and I like this idea:
More Standing Room Only, Less Seats. The article proposes 20,000 SRO, and 40,000 seats.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... -standing/
Thinking about a new stadium, we could use this concept to get away from the Jerry Dome idea where half the seats are a mile from field. Picture a 65,000 seat stadium, but built like a basketball arena at the lowest level. The seats closest to the court would retract and become steep tiered SRO platforms with "drink" rails pushed back to allow for a football field. The field level tiered SRO tickets would be a little cheaper for fanatics, right on top of the action, very loud and very crazy. Think Antlers, or the band, or the Student Sections at college basketball where a few years ago they started giving the floor seats to students to amp up the atmosphere.
This field level tiered SRO concept would accommodate folks who want to stand for the whole game anyway, and would get the maximum number of people as close to the filed as possible -- pack them in. Secondary benefit -- the footprint of the entire stadium could be smaller, lowering cost.
For basketball you would just un-retract the SRO platforms and put chairs on them all the way to courtside all the way around. For hockey, un-retract the sides only -- and leave the ends partially retracted to be narrow SRO rows close to the action.
The main thing that gets folks away from their HDTVs and into the stadium, is becoming part of the winning team -- the 12th man -- getting right on top of the action, being very very loud to disrupt the opponents play calling, and help win the game. Like in Seattle. Build for noise, excitement, as many folks as close to the field and the action as possible, and people will buy tickets.
...Clearly what has a lot of local NFL fans spooked are repeated vague media reports and political boasting coming out of LA in recent weeks that suggest the NFL wants two teams there within 12 to 24 months.
Naturally, everyone has the Rams on the short list — mainly because their lease with the Dome expires in January.
Over the past few weeks, I have heard informed local rumblings that tend to mute some of this Rams relocation chatter. In conversations with influential sources who are intimately familiar with the Rams’ stadium situation, they tell an entirely different story from the ones coming out of Los Angeles.
• While Kroenke might be reclusive publicly, he has not been a recluse with the men trying to put together a deal in St. Louis. Rams officials and local negotiators have had a constant dialogue all along, the sources say.
• The silence from local negotiators does not mean they haven’t been working feverishly to put a deal together. According to these sources, that silence could be broken with the completion of next month’s midterm elections. What local negotiators have been working on, and could be prepared to publicly discuss within the next month or so, is a proposal for an open-air stadium along the St. Louis riverfront between the new Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge and the Lumiere Place Casino and Hotels.
• While a retractable-roofed stadium isn’t out of the question, the open-air stadium proposal seems to be the one that local deal makers think makes the most sense both financially and politically....
Interesting that this is coming from Burwell: someone known for not being very positive or the bearer of good news.This is the first time I have heard concrete conversations about what the city and state are trying to do. Up until now, it has been a lot of ambitious gossip and wishful long-range thinking. But now, finally, there seems to be legitimate work being done to secure a long-term NFL future for St. Louis.
What I’m being told is that there is a serious movement locally now to ensure that an impressive NFL stadium will be built in the shadows of the Dome and that city and state officials will not rest until there is a team taking up permanent resident in that new edifice.
