Edward Jones Dome/St. Louis Rams

[Foster]

Originally Posted by Cory

Nobody wants to be in STL. The Raiders and Chargers want a new stadium and can't get one. The Rams wanted a new stadium and couldn't get one. Nobody is coming to a city that won't build a new stadium.

Originally Posted by I_AM_Clayton

Actually we as a city put up $150 million and created a stadium task force that created an entire new stadium plan. It's not that didn't have the resources/money and or ability, it's that Stan wanted to move the team and the NFL is interested in the money sitting in LA vs. STL.

The problem in St Louis (and about to be the problem in all the places that have NFL teams) is the greed by the owners.

From this article from the Huffngton Post

At the beginning of 2015, city and state taxpayers still owed more than $100 million in debt on the bonds used to finance the Edward Jones Dome, the stadium St. Louis put $280 million in public funds behind in 1995.

The new stadium was expected to cost $950 million dollars with most of the cost to be covered by the taxpayers and most of the revenues from the games to be taken by the team.

A little bit of Google searching will get you the cost of stadium construction This one has a good summary of other places

More and more owners are asking for "field parity" aka Skyboxes, jumbo jumbotrons, more seating, etc. For a building they will use 9 times a year and will want a new one every twenty years (use is about 185 times, hardly worn out). The NFL is a multi billion per year, 2015 revenue was estimated at $14 billion. They can easily afford paying for stadiums out of their own pockets.

What could St Louis and the state do with $800 million? Lots of improvements in the schools and infrastructure. And remember that 800 million is borrowed dollars, when they get done in 30 years paying off the interest, you are talking over $2 billion dollars. Not a small amount of money.

As you can tell, this is a real hot button for me. I'm good with professional sports. Not good with the cost being carried by taxpayers while the profits go to the owners and the NFL. Yah, yah, I get the "well the money trickles down from the jobs (9 times a year) and the concessions (9 times a year and the team shares the profits) and parking (9 times a year and the team shares the profits) and the hotel rooms, tourists into the area, etc. " Not buying it. If all that money was rolling into St Louis and the state, would they be in the shape they are today?

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