Goodell: $300 million for St. Louis stadium 'fundamentally inconsistent' with NFL policy
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Goodell: $300 million for St. Louis stadium 'fundamentally inconsistent' with NFL policy
David Hunn
ST. LOUIS • The Board of Aldermen is poised to approve on Friday a financing package for a $1.1 billion stadium that counts on an extra $100 million from the National Football League.
But on Thursday, NFL officials wanted to make sure no one was taking league money for granted.
In a sternly worded letter to Gov. Jay Nixon and his stadium task force, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell warned that the league has no current plans to provide $300 million toward construction of a riverfront stadium here.
The NFL provides a maximum of $200 million to help teams build new stadiums, Goodell wrote. The premise that the league has committed $300 million to the Mississippi River proposal “is fundamentally inconsistent with the NFL’s program of stadium financing,” he said.
The letter comes at a critical moment. St. Louis aldermen are set to meet at 3 p.m. Friday to vote on the latest version of the city’s financing package — a deal that changed at the last minute to give up city tax revenue in exchange for an extra $100 million from the NFL.
It’s unclear if Goodell’s letter will affect that vote. Aldermen could amend the bill, introduce a floor substitute at Friday’s meeting, and — should it pass — schedule another special session for next week, in time to meet the league’s Dec. 30 proposal deadline.
They could let the bill, and the region’s hopes of keeping the St. Louis Rams, die. Without a new stadium here, NFL owners would have far less reason to block Rams owner Stan Kroenke’s efforts to move to Los Angeles.
Or they could do nothing.
“We are not changing this bill,” said downtown Alderman Jack Coatar late Thursday afternoon. “We are passing the bill as is tomorrow. We have the votes and we're moving forward.”
Moreover, Coatar said, Goodell’s letter isn’t particularly surprising. “Everybody that's been working on this deal knows that these funding sources are not guaranteed,” he said. “This is the city's proposal. This is what we're willing to spend.”
Goodell: $300 million for St. Louis stadium 'fundamentally inconsistent' with NFL policy
David Hunn
ST. LOUIS • The Board of Aldermen is poised to approve on Friday a financing package for a $1.1 billion stadium that counts on an extra $100 million from the National Football League.
But on Thursday, NFL officials wanted to make sure no one was taking league money for granted.
In a sternly worded letter to Gov. Jay Nixon and his stadium task force, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell warned that the league has no current plans to provide $300 million toward construction of a riverfront stadium here.
The NFL provides a maximum of $200 million to help teams build new stadiums, Goodell wrote. The premise that the league has committed $300 million to the Mississippi River proposal “is fundamentally inconsistent with the NFL’s program of stadium financing,” he said.
The letter comes at a critical moment. St. Louis aldermen are set to meet at 3 p.m. Friday to vote on the latest version of the city’s financing package — a deal that changed at the last minute to give up city tax revenue in exchange for an extra $100 million from the NFL.
It’s unclear if Goodell’s letter will affect that vote. Aldermen could amend the bill, introduce a floor substitute at Friday’s meeting, and — should it pass — schedule another special session for next week, in time to meet the league’s Dec. 30 proposal deadline.
They could let the bill, and the region’s hopes of keeping the St. Louis Rams, die. Without a new stadium here, NFL owners would have far less reason to block Rams owner Stan Kroenke’s efforts to move to Los Angeles.
Or they could do nothing.
“We are not changing this bill,” said downtown Alderman Jack Coatar late Thursday afternoon. “We are passing the bill as is tomorrow. We have the votes and we're moving forward.”
Moreover, Coatar said, Goodell’s letter isn’t particularly surprising. “Everybody that's been working on this deal knows that these funding sources are not guaranteed,” he said. “This is the city's proposal. This is what we're willing to spend.”