National Football League

St. Louis task force keeps trudging along with downtown NFL stadium plans

Published Apr. 24, 2015 3:41 p.m. ET

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ST. LOUIS -- With each new rendering or announcement of groups hired to lend support, the plan for St. Louis' proposed $985 million riverfront stadium looks a little more impressive and closer to reality.

The NFL continues to show its interest, most recently by inviting the St. Louis task force led by Dave Peacock and Bob Blitz to league headquarters in New York to make a 40-minute presentation to the Los Angeles opportunities committee and other league officials. But a 25-minute session with St. Louis media Friday morning revealed plenty of questions that still need to be answered in the next six months, particularly when it comes to financing the project.

"There are steps that you have to go through, but in looking through and down the road on those steps, there isn't a major obstacle there," Blitz said when asked about his confidence in the ability to secure public financing. "They're just procedures that you have to follow to do it."

His confidence hasn't wavered, even though some unforeseen hurdles have arisen to potentially prevent the group from acquiring the $400 million it expects in public funding. That doesn't include seat license revenue Peacock hopes will be "$150 million or so, maybe a little less," based on market studies.

Most of the public money -- between $300 and $350 million, according to the original estimate -- would come from an extension of the bonds currently used to pay for the Edward Jones Dome. But that plan could be in jeopardy if the St. Louis Regional Complex and Sports Authority doesn't win a lawsuit filed against the city to bypass a 2002 ordinance requiring a public vote when providing "financial assistance" to a professional sports facility.

Blitz argued the ordinance shouldn't be valid because of state statutes created in 1988 that should supersede any city ordinances. From the beginning of the project Peacock and others have stated their intention to avoid a public vote, but he said it's not because they're afraid of losing.

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"Our issue is really of time, and campaigns take time," Peacock said. "They can be costl,y and if the lawsuit goes as Bob and others and me, we feel it will, the Board of Aldermen will still weigh in. And the Board of Aldermen are the representative body selected by the people to dig into complex issues and make decisions."

That's certainly true, and as Peacock points out, the new stadium would require a significantly smaller percentage of public money than many built across the country in recent years. But in today's economic climate with more citizens becoming cynical of using taxpayer money to fund stadiums, a public vote could pose a significant threat.

Time is critical in the race to keep the Rams from moving to Los Angeles, which looks to be nearly inevitable for at least one and possibly two franchises in the near future. St. Louis holds a significant advantage over San Diego and Oakland in terms of having a viable plan for a much-needed new stadium, but Rams owner Stan Kroenke appears to be farthest along in his quest to build in LA.

"We know about it, but we're not focused on it because frankly, we know what our timeline is, we know what we need to accomplish, and we're trying to do what's best for St. Louis," Peacock said. "They need to as a league determine what's going to be best for them in Los Angeles, and we just believe, based on the plan we've put forth, that it doesn't necessarily mean it's a St. Louis team moving."

Blitz says the task force still is waiting for a response from the city and hopes to have that lawsuit resolved by August. Even if all goes well for the task force, though, a SLU law professor threatened to file a suit of his own to force a public vote.

Ideally, the remainder of the public funding will be secured by at least November, though other sources still need to be found for at least another $50 million, according to the original estimates for bond extension revenues. The group lost a small portion of support when Gov. Jay Nixon removed St. Louis County taxpayers from participation, an expected loss of around $6 million.

In the meantime, the task force will push forward in perfecting its stadium design, acquiring the land and working on what Peacock calls the site's "buildability" with the firm hired to manage stadium construction earlier this week. Blitz doesn't expect that to be a problem thanks to option agreements and the NFL's legal rights to eminent domain for building stadiums.

If all goes well, public money will be secured by the fall, although none of it would be released until St. Louis can be assured of private funding and a team to play in the stadium. Peacock says he hasn't spoken directly with Kroenke about the approximately $250 million expected from the billionaire owner, to go along with around $200 million through the league's G4 program.

"That $450 million in private money is not insignificant," Peacock said. "It'd be the largest private investment for a single project in the history of St. Louis City."

Even if St. Louis can find the public money, it's still possible the NFL or Kroenke could stonewall the city and move the Rams to the more financially attractive market in Los Angeles regardless. But Peacock believes the NFL created and made public its bylaws for a reason, and they appear to require the Rams to stay in St. Louis if a viable stadium plan exists.

There's only one way to find out. 

You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.

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