[Elvis]

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news ... at-of.html

New stadium’s cost more than doubles that of Edward Jones Dome. Why?

Brian Feldt and Jacob Kirn
St. Louis Business Journal

The publicly financed Edward Jones Dome cost $280 million, or some $434 million in 2015 dollars.

That facility, just 20 years old, is famously no longer in the National Football League’s “top tier,” which has set off a series of significant events, including a possible Rams move to Los Angeles, and, in an effort to prevent that, the consideration of a new outdoor NFL stadium on the Mississippi riverfront.

The price tag for that project — nearly $1 billion — received little scrutiny after the project was unveiled in January. After all, the b-word (as in billions) is now quite common.

Jerry Jones’ AT&T Stadium, which opened in 2009 to host his Dallas Cowboys, set a new precedent for cost: $1.3 billion.

The 10 NFL stadiums built in the decade prior to that averaged less than $500 million.

Not anymore.

Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, opened in July 2014 at a price of $1.3 billion.

The Minnesota Vikings’ new home will cost $1 billion. It’s scheduled to open next year.

And a new facility in Atlanta for the Falcons will cost $1.4 billion.

All rely on taxes, and so would St. Louis’ stadium, at a cost of more than $350 million in public money (not including interest) comprised of bond proceeds (about $6 million per year from the city of St. Louis and $12 million per year from the state of Missouri through 2051) and tax credits. A St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority (RSA) analysis says the city of St. Louis would receive direct net revenue from the stadium complex and related football activities of more than $115.7 million over 35 years, and stadium proponents, including St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, have said many of the taxes used for the project will be generated by game-day activities.

Were the total cost lower, it’s possible taxpayers could spend less this time around.

But that’s not in the cards, said John Vrooman, a Vanderbilt University economics professor and expert on sports economics.

“The basic economic architecture of the newer venues is to charge half as many fans twice as much,” Vrooman said. “The newer venues are more opulent and luxurious but also technologically and digitally ‘smarter’ than the venues from two decades ago.”

Indeed, the riverfront stadium would boast a brewpub, fan experience zone and, of course, an enormous video board, a must-have after Jones revealed his monsters, 160 feet wide and 72 feet tall.

St. Louis football fans would pay for the luxuries with more than taxes: Personal seat licenses (PSLs) would cost between $500 and $40,000, depending on seat location, according to an NFL-commissioned study of the market. PSLs for the Edward Jones Dome are now sold on the secondary market, and run as little as $500 for a lower-level seat at midfield. The Rams have not had a winning season since 2003.

“It’s way more expensive because modern stadiums are, to use the technical term, way schmancier,” said Neal deMause, a New York City-based author who tracks stadium development news. “Remember, the whole Rams stadium lease fiasco was triggered because the Jones Dome is no longer considered state-of-the-art — and state-of-the-art now doesn’t just mean a place to watch a football game, or even just a place to watch a football game from a pricey suite, but a place to watch football on a giant video board and go to steakhouses and beer gardens and ignore the game entirely if you want. Modern stadiums are essentially upscale malls with playing fields attached — as Yankees president Lonn Trost famously said of his team’s new field, ‘We tried to reflect a five-star hotel and put a ball field in the middle.’ At that point, the only thing reining in costs is the chutzpah of the owner who’s asking for the thing.”

In St. Louis’ case, it’s not clear if Rams owner Stan Kroenke is asking for it at all. He’s been publicly silent for years, and now plans to build a stadium in Inglewood, California.

Dave Peacock, stadium task force co-leader, is asking for the St. Louis stadium. He said fans want the extra amenities, and stadium designers — in this case HOK — are able to put more thought into that experience; architects are planning ample plazas, gardens, bridges and bike trails. Renderings show parking lots made of grass. HOK expects to collect $39 million if this stadium is built, up from more than $17 million — or $26 million in 2015 dollars for HOK and its subsidiaries — for the Edward Jones Dome, which was built without a commitment from an NFL team. The St. Louis-based firm did not make anyone available for comment.

“I liken it to a family of six or a family of two looking to buy a house,” Peacock said. “Depending on the make up of your family, it’s going to determine the size of the house you build.”

[TSFH Fan]

I thought what Vrooman said back in 2006 was short, sweet, and to the point:

As you surmise, the major cause for the cost increase is the revolutionary change in structural design
to squeeze more revenue from fewer and fewer, more affluent fans.

Well, he also continued:

At the real bottom line, teams
are only interested in more premium seating in the form of club seats and luxury suites. As venue
design has evolved since the late 1980's, traditional stadium seats in the lower and upper decks have
become appendages to the luxury suite and club mezzanine level, rather than the other way around in
older stadiums. This requires reconstruction of the stadium with a "motel in the middle", and an upper
deck on top and lower bowl in the front. This is very expensive and the old stadium can be reduced to
a shell surrounding the smaller stadium, such as Chicago Soldier Field or LA’s proposed new Coliseum.
Premium seating is valuable because it is contractually obligated revenue (COR) or certain "money."
This is also "money" that may not always be subject to revenue sharing with other teams or even with
the players under NFL salary cap rules. The important point that needs to be made is that the
premium seat money alone can easily cover the total cost of the stadium. The rest of the stadium
revenue and gate can be used to operate the team--particularly in the NFL, where TV money can
alone cover team payroll. (Annual team average share of $116.7 million in the 2006-11 NFL TV
contract is approximately equal to the expected payroll cap in 2008.)

Edit: Sauce: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/econ/faculty/ ... diego7.pdf

[bubbaramfan]

Good post TSFH. I believe stadium design and luxury and corporate boxes are one of the reasons Stan has decided to build a stadium in a city of his choosing and to his design.
The ED Jones Dome has 126 Luxury boxes, and last year only 85 were paid for. The largest went unused. ( usually for corporations). mayor Butts of Inglewood once mentioned that the proposed stadium there will have twice as many as the ED and some seating over 100 with full catering. Also the stadium will have a plexi-glass roof that can be lit up like a scrolling billboard for advertising to the incoming flights to LAX. (some have had concerns about overfights of the stadium, but that is a falacy. The closest runway and its incoming traffic will be about a halfmile north of the stadium, No air traffic will fly directly over the stadium).


The numbers don't add up. So far they have only come up with the $$ for half the stadium. Wait till they realize Stan and The NFL aren't going to contribute and they are going to have to come up with the whole one billion. That ought to get more politicians on the anti-stadium bandwagon.

[Hacksaw]

bubba "The numbers don't add up. So far they have only come up with the $$ for half the stadium. Wait till they realize Stan and The NFL aren't going to contribute and they are going to have to come up with the whole one billion. That ought to get more politicians on the anti-stadium bandwagon."

If the Rams, includng G4, don't contribute = NO stadium. And it's been pointed out, even if the Charade'rs get the prize of LA for all their ineptitude, it doesn't guarantee StL anything.

[moklerman]

Considering all that's gone on, is it really likely that St. Louis actually has the money they say they have? Seems like Enron money at this point.

[The Ripper]

It will be over $ 500 million with the cost overruns. They will also be required to reserve for renovations and improvements which could be over $40 million a year.

[azramsfan93]

Who is going to buy their bonds given the staunch commitment by the legislature to refuse payment without a vote?

[bubbaramfan]

Az, Could this be one of the reasons the NFL cancelled the presentation? Might they want to give more time to see how this develops?

And when is the next meeting? Me, I think its already been decided, and the financial impact report will be their excuse to vote for a Ram move to LA.

[The Ripper]

Scott Kaplan
‏@ScottKaplan
SD County Supervisor @RonRobertsSD on @ScottandBR @Mighty1090 4:35 to discuss @nfl owners no longer listening to relocation talk!


https://twitter.com/ScottKaplan/status/644289995549704192

[bluecoconuts]

Because the EJD sucks and was built cheaply for conventions and not football... Then they refused to upgrade it. Stadiums were cheaper back in 94, yes, but they designed an uninspired stadium, it's no surprise it fell from grace quickly.