urbanSTL

I know installing monitors on the backs of the seats has been tossed around. Touch screen for ordering menu items and such. Maybe install those in small select areas. Multiple giant screens were installed in the last 1-2 years. Do fans want another one? I don't know. I do like what they've done with the Bud Light party zone.

I agree the common areas and lighting could use some attention.

The Rams aren't going anywhere.

moorlander wrote:Multiple giant screens were installed in the last 1-2 years. Do fans want another one? I don't know. I do like what they've done with the Bud Light party zone.

With overhead screens, I would take down the endzone screens and use that valuable space for something else. Make it flexible space and make it an in-the-arena bar for regular fans, or a kids zone during Rams games. For the basketball configuration, make the South end into high-priced seating and a midcourt press box. Or if you ever need 70K seats, it could be available for additional seating.

gary kreie wrote:They said Rams season ticket sales have been great -- 5th best in the NFL for new season tickets sold.

Does that actually mean they are doing well? Couldn't that mean they just had the 5th most non-renewals of season tickets last year? I'd guess places like Green Bay, Chicago, Pittsburgh, etc don't have many NEW season tickets to sell year-to-year. Still, the fact that they are still selling tickets while this lockout isn't officially over yet is a good sign.

ricke002 wrote:

gary kreie wrote:They said Rams season ticket sales have been great -- 5th best in the NFL for new season tickets sold.

Does that actually mean they are doing well? Couldn't that mean they just had the 5th most non-renewals of season tickets last year? I'd guess places like Green Bay, Chicago, Pittsburgh, etc don't have many NEW season tickets to sell year-to-year. Still, the fact that they are still selling tickets while this lockout isn't officially over yet is a good sign.

I wondered the same thing, but the lady did say they were doing great so I will take that on face value. It did bother me that apparently they were selling new season tickets with or without a PSL in my section ahead of the move request I submitted in March with my season ticket renewal. The Muny and other places process the long time customer move requests first.

rawest1 wrote:

gary kreie wrote:

ricke002 wrote:
Does that actually mean they are doing well? Couldn't that mean they just had the 5th most non-renewals of season tickets last year? I'd guess places like Green Bay, Chicago, Pittsburgh, etc don't have many NEW season tickets to sell year-to-year. Still, the fact that they are still selling tickets while this lockout isn't officially over yet is a good sign.

I wondered the same thing, but the lady did say they were doing great so I will take that on face value. It did bother me that apparently they were selling new season tickets with or without a PSL in my section ahead of the move request I submitted in March with my season ticket renewal. The Muny and other places process the long time customer move requests first.

I hope this is all true, but do keep in mind that as a ticket sales rep, her job is to create demand and a sense of urgency, or at least an atmosphere conducive to, tickets being purchased. To say "We're not doing as well as we'd like to do" would be counter-productive. She's probably instructed not to answer your question in any other way than vague positives like "We're doing great."

Possibly. But, on the hand, we had already re-purchased last years seats and were just trying to take advantage of the option to move to other seats closer to our friends. But she could only find a couple of seats available to transfer to in our section, neither acceptable. Last year there were lots of move options.

A few NFL towns might breath a little easier if they read they latest is Wall Street on one of the LA proposals. Looks like evem LA is having a tough time stomaching a bond issue for a sports stadium

Los Angeles Slows Down Football Stadium Deal

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... NewsSecond

However, if they bring up Beer revenue and Minnesota Vikings in one breath at the LA Council meeting and Minnesota state shutdown they might be able to sway a vote or two

Shutdown Hits Happy Hour
Minnesota Budget Standoff Leaves Some Bars, Liquor Stores Unable to Restock

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... NewsSecond

The new Ticket Master Rams tickets web site for single game tickets now shows how many tickets are left for each Rams home game, section by section in the dome.

I happened to look at the site when single season tickets first went on sale Friday, and did a quick count of unsold seats for the first pre-season game against Indianapolis. I counted roughly 7200 empty seats. Which means, I believe, that the other 58,800 seats were probably sold as season tickets.

Tonight, Tuesday, I went back again and counted empty seats again for the Indy game by level with these results.
400 upper -- 1013 unsold seats
400 lower -- 20
300 -- 792
100 upper -- 34
100 lower -- 341
Total unsold for Indy game -- 2200 seats.

So, I believe the Rams have sold about 5000 single seat tickets or season tickets since Friday.
Of course in pre-season, a lot of people with season ticket seats don't show up, so it may not look full Saturday.

I also did a count of empty seats for the first regular season game with the Philadelphia Eagles with these results.

400 upper -- 1410 unsold seats
400 lower -- 0
300 -- 353
100 upper -- 1
100 lower -- 0
Total unsold for Eagles game -- 1764 seats.
This game will likely be a sellout by 9/11.

I think this On Numbers study story speaks to the original argument.

Unless you are in a huge population center (NYC, LA, Chicago, etc.), in order for a business to be successful, it needs to have a regional draw. In this conversation, that business could be a sports franchise or airport.

The DEN airport is the only international airport for what 600 miles? So, while DEN is a smaller metro than STL, it doesn’t matter. If you live in Colorado, you’re going to fly in/out of DEN. You don’t have a choice. Conversely, if you live in Missouri, you could fly out of STL, KC, Memphis, etc.

This works for sports franchises as well. So, while interesting, I think the On Numbers study is badly flawed by only including the metro area in their analysis. Successful sports franchises—especially, ones that are steeped in history (and wins)—are regional, not solely local, draws. For instance, the Cardinals draw from throughout the Midwest/South. The Broncos, from throughout their region. The Packers, all of Wisconsin. Etc.

A better study for “overextended” markets for professional sports would include that regional variable in their analysis. Simply dividing the metro GDP by number of pro teams isn’t appropriate. (With that being said, STL can’t support a 4th franchise….impossible.)

In a related note, and bringing it home to the thread’s original subject, the St. Louis Rams have a huge challenge with making themselves a regional team. (Note, for the sake of this argument, I am somewhat ignoring LA Rams fans. While many do follow the team, I don’t think a large number are season ticket holders and fly to the games.) More than half of Missouri is already Chiefs territory. A large portion of Illinois (southern Illinois specifically) is already Bears territory.

So, what to do to broaden the Rams appeal regionally, increasing the season ticket holder base and media market? Tie yourself to your franchise QB who went to college in the neighboring state of Oklahoma. Last year at the Rams games, it was striking how many Oklahoma jerseys were there. So, mine that territory. Make it easier for Oklahoma fans to get to Rams game. Market yourself there. It seems Rams management/ownership is already getting this—Saturday’s Rams game was broadcast in…… Oklahoma.

^ That is great to hear, that the Rams are marketing in Sam's neck of the woods. You bring up some great points. I think the Rams are at a disadvantage due to lack of tradition in the midwest. In the case of the baseball Cardinals, they have been around a long time and have a rich, winning tradition. They have firm roots in the Midwest.
The Rams have a long way to go, before they build that kind of tradition. Too bad they didn't maintain the momentum from the SB teams. If the Rams had been a strong contender dating back to the Greatest Show, they'd likely have much more national appeal. They'd be building rivalries with regional teams, seeing bandwagon fans jump aboard nationally and people who watch because they want to see the mighty Rams fall. We saw that a bit during the Greatest show era, but the Rams were not able to stay at the top, unfortunately. I would definitely say the Rams are an up and coming team. With Sam at the helm, that could last for a while, as long as he is healthy.

A coworker of mine is a season ticket holder. He said he is still negotiating with the Rams, to avoid buying the preseason games. He told me that he is having a much harder time finding the seats he wants. Most are taken. That is a VERY good sign for the Rams. It will be hard for the Rams to overcome their tough schedule this year, but next year will be the year to watch. They need to be at least 8-8. That would be the perfect step to a real contender next season. Of course, I will take anything better than 8-8 this year, but it will be tough with that 2nd place schedule. GO RAMS!!!!!!!!

St. Louis... Nothing Impossible...

^^Wouldn't it be nice if we could actually have regional rivalries? Seriously, we play Seattle, SF, and Arizona. Our closest "division" rival is 1500 miles away.

There's KC, but they're not even in our conference. Chicago, different division, and we don't play them every year. Rams are kind of in no-man's land when it comes to rivalries.

Rams are looking up though. There going to be much more fun to watch.

I went to the preseason game Saturday, and it was fun. I would like to see them do more to compete with my HDTV in my living room. First of all, how about padded seats. Most of the seats at Busch are padded now, and those are outdoors. The Rams need to replace all the lower bowl seats at least with padded blue seats.

I've been saying for a long time that they could improve the atmosphere with better lighting. They could re-work the lighting to simulate an open air stadium. Instead, we get Seattle on a cloudy day lighting. Depressing.

Information. At home you can quickly find out what is going on with a call, a play, an injury, whatever. Good luck in the dome. My AT&T blackberry cell phone gets no bars in the dome, and AT&T featured the Rams on the cover of their yellow pages. (Verizon seems to work). Why don't they have wi-fi and an app we can use in the dome to get realtime information on the game, like we would if we were watching TV at home.

The 20 oz beer are $9.00 each. I had to ask the guy to top off the one he poured, because as he was getting my change, the head went down about $1.00 or $2.00 worth. (more than 1/9th.) He did top it off, and said he didn't blame me for asking with beers being $9.00 each. I believe I read these are the highest priced beers in the NFL, and right in beer city. I guess we're having a shortage. Two small beers, one smallest hot dog, and a pretzel was more than $25.00, so he needed me to sign for it when I used my ATM card. Next time, I'll just ask him for a home equity loan.

I did have a good time, and the team looked good. I'll be back. The Rams and the dome have done a lot to improve the stadium and the atmosphere, and they have me as a season ticket holder. I'd just like them to do a little more to keep the Rams fans there, instead of offering their seats (sold through the Rams Ticket Exchange) to opposing fans.

the count wrote:What say you Bonwich?

It's been a while, but I think my original point was that St. Louis can't support another professional team. I'd say that study validates the point pretty strongly.

bonwich wrote:

the count wrote:What say you Bonwich?

It's been a while, but I think my original point was that St. Louis can't support another professional team. I'd say that study validates the point pretty strongly.

Another way it can be looked at the end of the day. The industry of professional sports can't afford the salaries it pays nor the revenues it desires except a few locations/franchises. In other words, revenue sharing across the league is the only business model that makes sense when using this study.

9-7

Bernie wrote a nice article today on the Rams/Edward Domes situation. What I like best abou the article is Bernie is starting to connect the dots. The reality is in no way can the region let alone the state afford to Stan K a top tier stadium. However, what would a developer might want instead - access to the undeveloped property next to an upgraded stadium! Now if Bernie could connect one more dot - an at grade Memorial Blvd in front of the stadium that replaces I-70 and gives better access to another spot that needs infill - Lacledes Landing.

Burwell: Positive signs suggest St. Louis can keep the Rams

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... 1d424.html

dredger wrote:Bernie wrote a nice article today on the Rams/Edward Domes situation. What I like best abou the article is Bernie is starting to connect the dots. The reality is in no way can the region let alone the state afford to Stan K a top tier stadium. However, what would a developer might want instead - access to the undeveloped property next to an upgraded stadium! Now if Bernie could connect one more dot - an at grade Memorial Blvd in front of the stadium that replaces I-70 and gives better access to another spot that needs infill - Lacledes Landing.

Burwell: Positive signs suggest St. Louis can keep the Rams

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... 1d424.html

1. Burwell ≠ "Bernie"
2. If Kroenke wants the Bottle District land, he could, well, I don't know...buy it. The undeveloped property next to a new (and, less than 20 years later, "obsolete") stadium has sat vacant for the entire time that stadium has existed. It simply isn't valuable, nor will it be any more valuable if a new stadium is built (nor will the vacant lot on that would be created by imploding the old stadium if the new one is built on the bottle district lot).

Any such proposal rests on the repeatedly disproved assertion that sports stadiums and arenas spur development in the areas adjacent to them. TWA Jones? Nope. Kielvistrade? Nope. Busch II? Nope. Busch III? Nope.

I disagree with the assessment of needing a new entertainment district 100%. Why do we have to build another entertainment district? We already have2 different ones in Washington Ave and Lacledes Landing so why don’t we take the funds and use them to expand these 2 areas. We could also use the funds to create a good connection between the Landing/Wash Ave by tearing out I-70 resulting in a non-interrupted pedestrian flow between them.
 
Indy doesn’t have a special entertainment district like Ballpark Village that is designed to spend and contain your money within the special district. Instead they have a well built vibrant downtown full of shops, restaurants, bars, etc that extends into other parts of downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods. If we built a seamless connection, build on some of the vacant land and parking lots on the Landing, and also build on parking lots on and around Washington Ave then we would have the entertainment district without building a development from scratch that may compromise the health of our existing areas downtown.
 
In addition, downtown does not need the Rams located downtown. If you go to the bars on the Landing and Wash Ave they are occupied by people watching football on TV and not regular ticket holders of Rams games. Most of the fans that arrive early tailgate and many don’t stick around after the game. Therefore the amount of money spent at the bars and restaurants as a result of the Rams being located downtown is minimal. Combine this with the fact the Rams only have 8 regular season games and 2 preseason games at home. For the other 355 days of the year the dome sits void of any football games and sucks the life out of the area since it’s a hulking structure that causes a barrier in downtown.
 

bonwich wrote:

dredger wrote:Bernie wrote a nice article today on the Rams/Edward Domes situation. What I like best abou the article is Bernie is starting to connect the dots. The reality is in no way can the region let alone the state afford to Stan K a top tier stadium. However, what would a developer might want instead - access to the undeveloped property next to an upgraded stadium! Now if Bernie could connect one more dot - an at grade Memorial Blvd in front of the stadium that replaces I-70 and gives better access to another spot that needs infill - Lacledes Landing.

Burwell: Positive signs suggest St. Louis can keep the Rams

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... 1d424.html

1. Burwell ≠ "Bernie"
2. If Kroenke wants the Bottle District land, he could, well, I don't know...buy it. The undeveloped property next to a new (and, less than 20 years later, "obsolete") stadium has sat vacant for the entire time that stadium has existed. It simply isn't valuable, nor will it be any more valuable if a new stadium is built (nor will the vacant lot on that would be created by imploding the old stadium if the new one is built on the bottle district lot).

Any such proposal rests on the repeatedly disproved assertion that sports stadiums and arenas spur development in the areas adjacent to them. TWA Jones? Nope. Kielvistrade? Nope. Busch II? Nope. Busch III? Nope.

First, Thanks for the correction on Burwell

Second, My point at the end of the day is how do you leverage any effort into keeping the Rams stay, and there will be an effort, to improve downtown. In that respect, I would very much rather see an investment in the surrounding area/infrastructure key component rather then a new stadium proposal anyday (anytime you have a reason for 55,000 to go downtown is a good thing, especially when the stadium is already there) More importantly, if properly presented you could return the street grid between Wash Ave and the new Mississippi River Bridge as part of any improvements proposed to Edward Jones. This would add immensely to the surrounding area in my opinion and counter any arguments that Edward Jones is not accessible to entertainment districts when you are literally within an easy walk of such as Downtown2007 rightly points out.

My fear, the lid will be built, MoDOT will spend to build a new freeway interchange at Wash Ave and you will continue to have empty lots, raised freeway and an empty stadium to boot. At that point any desire to fundatmentally change downtown riverfront infrastructure is lost for a few more decades.