[Elvis]

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... 892c7.html

Bernie: NFL meets with St. Louis stadium task force

National Football League executive vice president Eric Grubman was in St. Louis Thursday for a meeting that included Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, stadium task force leaders Dave Peacock and Bob Blitz and Rams chief operating officer Kevin Demoff.

In a four-hour session held at the Four Seasons hotel, Grubman and three other representatives from the NFL received a comprehensive update on the status of the proposed $998 million stadium planned for the city's north riverfront.

The points of emphasis included stadium financing, an updated stadium design, and land acquisition. The discussion also entailed the preliminary outline of a prospective lease agreement that would be presented to the Rams or another NFL team.

"We continue to make progress," Peacock told the Post-Dispatch. "And it was a good update. We covered a lot of important ground, and we'll continue meeting with the NFL."

Nixon, Peacock and Blitz were accompanied by a team of advisers from Goldman Sachs, which is assisting on the stadium financing, and representatives from HOK, the St. Louis-based architecture firm that's designing the stadium.

Rams owner Stan Kroenke is planning to build a new stadium in Inglewood, near Los Angeles. The Rams are free to terminate their lease agreement at the Edward Jones Dome after the 2015 season, and it is widely assumed Kroenke will apply for relocation to move his team to Los Angeles for the 2016 season.

Kroenke faces competition in the LA market from the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders, who have partnered on a proposed stadium in Carson, an LA suburb. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has said the league will choose between the two stadium projects, selecting only one.

It's expected that the NFL will begin accepting relocation applications this fall, and the league owners could vote on the transfer requests early next year.

The St. Louis task force is racing against the clock to complete the funding and land procurement to secure an actionable stadium plan. If St. Louis hopes to receive the NFL's backing, a new stadium is mandatory.

A successful stadium effort could prevent the Rams from moving to Los Angeles. If the stadium plan unravels, Kroenke would have a much greater chance of convincing the NFL to approve a Rams move to Los Angeles.

Grubman and Goodell continue to encourage the St. Louis task force to keep working to finalize the project.

When asked about Grubman's reaction to Thursday's update, Peacock said:

"I think the NFL delegation was very pleased with the progress being made on the stadium. The feedback was positive. But we still have work to do, and we know that."

Obstacles remain.

In April the public board that runs the Edward Jones Dome filed suit against the city of St. Louis, contending that a 2002 city ordinance requiring a public vote prior to spending tax money on a new stadium is "overly broad, vague and ambiguous."

Stadium organizers are counting on the city’s portion of the stadium funding, which would be covered by an existing hotel-motel tax.

Arguments were heard by Circuit Court Judge Thomas Frawley on June 25, and a ruling is expected soon.

If Frawley rules that city residents must vote to approve use of hotel-motel taxes before the money could be used for the stadium, the task force would have to pivot quickly and hustle to bring the measure to a ballot.

A delay could put the project — and the city's NFL future — in jeopardy.

While there's no official deadline, NFL owners have scheduled an Aug. 11 meeting in Chicago to have an extensive discussion about the Los Angeles situation. So the timing is critical.

Peacock said the sooner he can present a secure funding commitment to the NFL, the more it will strengthen the city's chances of retaining the Rams and staying in the NFL. But a lengthy delay could doom the effort to keep the Rams/NFL in St. Louis.

Peacock added that the funding doesn't have to be in place by the Aug. 11 meeting, but he believes it's important for the task force to maintain the NFL's confidence in the viability of the St. Louis project.

A setback on the city's share of the funding could raise doubts among NFL executives and owners, which in turn could sway a relocation vote in Kroenke's favor.

To pay for the stadium the task force is counting on at least $250 million from the state and city, not including tax incentives and seat license fees.

Meanwhile, a second suit remains unresolved. Six state legislators sued Nixon in an attempt to prevent the governor from covering part of the cost for a new stadium by extending the bonds used to build the Edward Jones Dome. Nixon remains confident that his authority to extend the bonds will be reaffirmed in the upcoming ruling in Cole County.

Peacock said the NFL hasn't expressed any alarm over the ongoing legal disputes. Legal challenges to the use of public money to pay for stadiums is hardly new to the NFL. Unless the rulings go against Nixon and the task force, there isn't much to discuss.

"We updated Grubman on the status of the lawsuits," Peacock said. "It was part of the overall update. We discussed it and moved onto other areas."

Asked if he remained confident of a successful stadium resolution and the St. Louis campaign to keep the Rams or stay in the NFL, Peacock didn't hesitate.

"I really do," he said. "This was a good meeting, and the NFL is satisfied with what we've done to reach this stage. But we've got to keep going until everything is done. And we're committed to getting it done."

— Bernie Miklasz

[Elvis]

Is this our first Bernie article?

[Hacksaw]

Is this our first Bernie article?

One in which he didn't express his own views. What have they done with the real Bernie. lol
So Dave 'positive spin' Peacock is happy with the results. I wasn't aware this meeting was going to take place. Is this what that recent article was referring to? Now do SD and Oak get their updated meetings. I'd imagine at least SD will.
The freaking league is slowing this thing way down and taking way to much control over the situation but specifically LA. How can they claim the territory other than to dictate what a team may or may not be able to do? Getting involved with procuring temporary stadiums seems a move not really under their scope.
Being a fan of the LA Rams even more than the StL version, I truly want this thing to go the way most all of us hope here. These Bernie pressers and the NFL's handling of this whole thing makes me a bit uneasy.... tic tic tic

And what again was the specific reason the NFL cut the chord on relocation this year '15?

[Elvis]

It is for St. Louis Today and not the PD so maybe that accounts for the difference?

Anyway, here's Vinny's take:

http://www.insidesocal.com/nfl/2015/07/ ... ask-force/

NFL, Rams meet with St. Louis task force
Posted on July 16, 2015 by Vincent Bonsignore

The National Football League was back in St. Louis Thursday getting an update on local efforts to build a stadium designed to entice the Rams to stay – or perhaps be the future home for a team that relocates there or one the NFL assigns to St. Louis via expansion.

Among those present were NFL vice president Eric Grubman, who oversees the league’s potential move back to Los Angeles and also retaining teams in current markets, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, stadium task force leaders Dave Peacock and Bob Blitz and Rams chief operating officer Kevin Demoff.

According to my tremendously talented St. Louis colleague Bernie Miklasz from the St. Louis Post Dispatch:

At the four-hour session held at the Four Seasons hotel, Grubman and three other representatives from the NFL received a comprehensive update on the status of the proposed $998 million stadium planned for the city’s north riverfront.

The points of emphasis included stadium financing, an updated stadium design, and land acquisition. The discussion also entailed the preliminary outline of a prospective lease agreement that would be presented to the Rams or another NFL team.

“We continue to make progress,” Peacock told the Post-Dispatch. “And it was a good update. We covered a lot of important ground, and we’ll continue meeting with the NFL.”

Nixon, Peacock and Blitz were accompanied by a team of advisers from Goldman Sachs, which is assisting on the stadium financing, and representatives from HOK, the St. Louis-based architecture firm that’s designing the stadium.

As Bernie went on to write:

Obstacles remain.

In April the public board that runs the Edward Jones Dome filed suit against the city of St. Louis, contending that a 2002 city ordinance requiring a public vote prior to spending tax money on a new stadium is “overly broad, vague and ambiguous.”

Stadium organizers are counting on the city’s portion of the stadium funding, which would be covered by an existing hotel-motel tax.

Arguments were heard by Circuit Court Judge Thomas Frawley on June 25, and a ruling is expected soon.

If Frawley rules that city residents must vote to approve use of hotel-motel taxes before the money could be used for the stadium, the task force would have to pivot quickly and hustle to bring the measure to a ballot.

A delay could put the project — and the city’s NFL future — in jeopardy.

All that said, the big question is whether the Rams are truly interested in what St. Louis and Missouri are coming up with, or if they are simply biding time before pushing for relocation to Los Angeles, where owner Stan Kroenke is proposing a privately funded stadium in Inglewood.

Kroenke’s plan is one of two Los Angeles area stadium projects the NFL is considering, along with the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers Carson project.

The NFL could decide on the issue by the end of 2015.

My hunch is the Rams are listening, respectfully, but not all that interested in what St. Louis and Missouri leaders are offering. Their argument is, when the Rams moved from Los Angeles to St. Louis 20 years ago an agreed upon stipulation was that St. Louis would guarantee the Edward Jones Dome was among the top-tied stadiums 15 years into a 30 year lease, or pay for whatever renovations were needed to make it so.

If not, the Rams would become free agents no longer bound to any market. And free to look elsewhere.

St. Louis, as we know, balked at the $700 million dollars an arbitrator ruled was needed to bring the Edwards Jones Dome up to par. Upon doing so, the Rams became free agents.

And it looks now like their heart is set on returning to Los Angeles.

The Chargers and Raiders, meanwhile, face long odds securing new stadium deals in San Diego and Oakland within the time frame the NFL is expected to decide on L.A.

As a result, I would be shocked if the Rams, Chargers and Raiders don’t all push for relocation by the end of 2015, and that the NFL will then decide who goes to Los Angeles and where they will play.

[BuiltRamTough]

My hunch is the Rams are listening, respectfully, but not all that interested in what St. Louis and Missouri leaders are offering. Their argument is, when the Rams moved from Los Angeles to St. Louis 20 years ago an agreed upon stipulation was that St. Louis would guarantee the Edward Jones Dome was among the top-tied stadiums 15 years into a 30 year lease, or pay for whatever renovations were needed to make it so.

That's not your "hunch" Vinny that's a fact. We knew this since Januray. Even if STL gets the funding and finishes everything in a couple of months. That doesn't mean the NFL will force Stan to say in STL. I think it's gotten to the point where it doesn't matter what SD,OAK or STL do. The league could vote yes on any of these teams to relocate to LA. But see some folks especially in STL don't see it that way. They think once the funding is secured then bam! The Rams will stay and play in a shiny new stadium and everyone will live happily ever after. Not so fast.

[The Ripper]

"I think the NFL delegation was very pleased with the progress being made on the stadium. The feedback was positive. But we still have work to do, and we know that." Peacock

Not a very strong statement. Either they were or weren't.

[den-the-coach]

They think once the funding is secured then bam! The Rams will stay and play in a shiny new stadium and everyone will live happily ever after. Not so fast.

And the sad part is the new Stadium will not be in the top tier stadiums in the league either, which is another area that seems to not being conversed about. They will have a new stadium in St. Louis, that will not compare to the likes of Minnesota, Atlanta, Dallas, Indianapolis, New York, Detroit...Etc!

[Hacksaw]

StL openly talks of "remaining an NFL city". That is what they are shooting for. The Rams are gonzo and they seem to be accepting that through comments like that. They already hate Stan enough to have made peace with it...

If the Rams stay I will be extremely surprised. And the only way they do is if they give ESK more than they can afford or ESK never wanted to leave in the first place.

[moklerman]

when the Rams moved from Los Angeles to St. Louis 20 years ago an agreed upon stipulation was that St. Louis would guarantee the Edward Jones Dome was among the top-tied stadiums 15 years into a 30 year lease, or pay for whatever renovations were needed to make it so.

There's no getting around it. St. Louis broke the lease. That's all there is to it. Everything since that point is just spin. They can say that they're doing their due diligence and look how fast they've put this task force and proposal together and whatever else they want. But they broke the lease.

Rams brought football to St. Louis, St. Louis didn't keep it's end of the bargain.

Stan gets to do what he wants and St. Louis is why.

[BuiltRamTough]

Hey Stan and the NFL, we can't honor the top tier lease in which you guys wouldn't have to put any money in. But hey, give us 450 million dollars towards a new stadium. Oh and btw this new stadium isn't a top tier stadium.

This ladies and gentleman, doesn't not make any sense whatsoever.