[Elvis]

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... 59582.html

Bernie: Expect mixed results from NFL study

The NFL soon will give the results of a market analysis to St. Louis stadium task force leaders Dave Peacock and Bob Blitz. The league commissioned the study earlier this year to assess the support for NFL football in St. Louis, Oakland and San Diego, three NFL cities that are trying to prevent their franchises from moving to Los Angeles in 2016.
I’m told the St. Louis analysis will feature a generally positive assessment of the fan support here, including the potential success in the sale of personal seat licenses to help fund the cost of the proposed riverfront stadium.

But we can expect the report to convey concerns over the financial backing the Rams (or perhaps another NFL team) can expect to receive from the St. Louis business-corporate community. And this could be a problem.

How much of a problem? Well, that’s up to the NFL. As I’ve written many times, the league will do what it wants to do in determining the future of these three franchises. That also applies to the market research.

Let’s clear one thing up: St. Louis has a strong corporate-business base.

In 2014 St. Louis ranked 13th nationally among urban areas with 18 Fortune 1000 companies. As for being the home of the largest privately held companies in the nation, St. Louis was tied for fifth nationally with seven.

That’s a lot of financial muscle.

“I like to deal in fact and data,” Peacock said earlier this year. “The facts are half of the NFL teams play in cities with less Fortune 1000 companies than St. Louis has. We have seven of the top 200 private companies in the country.

“From just an economic standpoint, about 13 (NFL) teams play in cities with a smaller GDP (economy) than St. Louis. So it’s hard for me to say we don’t have the business support or the capability of business support.”

So what’s the issue?

The answer is obvious: Rams owner Stan Kroenke and his alienation of St. Louis.

St. Louis has plenty of businesses and companies to enrich the NFL product by leasing luxury suites, buying expensive club seats and signing on as sponsors.

In separate letters to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, two powerful local entities — the Regional Business Council and Civic Progress — pledged complete support for the stadium and the team.

As part of the market analysis, NFL representatives reached out to CEOs and high-level executives of local companies to gauge their interest in suites, club seats and sponsorships.

Apparently the NFL received lukewarm responses.

Realistically, what would you expect?

The Rams have had 11 consecutive non-winning seasons and haven’t made the playoffs since 2004. The Rams aren’t exactly a hot product.

And then you have Kroenke, who has done nothing personally to establish a rapport with the CEOs and executives who run the influential companies and control the dollars. Kroenke is a dues-paying member of Civic Progress, but he’s never attended a meeting. Kroenke hasn’t responded to calls made by some of the most powerful business executives in town.

On top of all of this is Kroenke’s attempt to build a stadium near Los Angeles and move the Rams there — while refusing to have as much as a single conversation with Peacock or Blitz on the STL stadium proposal.

I think I can understand why a major CEO — after being shunned by the Rams owner — would be less than thrilled with the idea of spending a large sum of money to pad Kroenke’s wealth.

But that doesn’t mean these executives would dig in and refuse to help Peacock and Blitz convince the NFL of our market’s viability.

A source close to Peacock told me he is aware of the NFL’s concern over the business-corporate backing — and he’s prepared to deal with it directly. How? By making a concerted effort to rally the CEOs and executives to get them to commit to the suites, club seats and sponsorships.

Peacock is well connected in the St. Louis business community. His reach extends to the highest levels. And as we’ve learned, the persuasive Peacock knows how to get things done.

If the NFL wants to see more evidence of business-corporate support for the Rams — and yes, Kroenke — Peacock will make it happen. This is just another potential obstacle to clear, and he’ll swing into action.

[Hacksaw]

He forgot to mention how cooperate sponsors will be lining up in LA..

[den-the-coach]

Unfortunately all of us know that St. Louis regardless of what Bernie reports is struggling as the Gateway City has lost quite a bit in corporations over the years. Enos Stanley Kroenke knows the better play is in Inglewood for so many obvious reasons. Now can it still work in St. Louis? I'm sure it can, but if the Rams win big in the Gateway City with a new stadium the best you can hope for is middle of the pack with the City of Champions the sky is the limit and the old guard knows the Rams need this in more ways than one.

Once the stadium is completed in Inglewood and The NFL Network is headquartered there, the Rams will be the toast of tinsel town and free agents will flock as we drink from the silver cup and take that highway to the sky.

[Elvis]

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... da504.html

Bernie: Build it, but NFL won't necessarily come

BY BERNIE MIKLASZ

Last week, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell praised the “tremendous progress” of the St. Louis effort on the proposed football stadium on our north riverfront.

I took that as a positive sign, at least in this context — it’s obvious that St. Louis stadium task-force leaders Dave Peacock and Bob Blitz have established credibility with the league.

Peacock-Blitz have earned the NFL’s trust to this point. But until the land is purchased and the stadium is funded, the trust is conditional. Without the stadium, the Rams are on their way to Los Angeles, and St. Louis is finished in the NFL.

For now the Peacock-Blitz efforts are being taken seriously by the league, and it was important to reach that point.

On one level, I like the way this is trending for St. Louis. I hesitate to say that, because it’s a volatile and predictable situation that can change at any moment.

For example: after Rams owner Stan Kroenke revealed a stunning plan to build a stadium complex near Los Angeles back in January, little did we know the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders would spring their own surprise and announce a partnership to build a stadium in the LA suburb of Carson, Calif.

A few months later the Carson plan seems to be gaining momentum, with the powerful Goldman Sachs firm handling the financing, and former NFL executive Carmen Policy signing on as the Carson lobbyist and point man.

If the Chargers and Raiders succeed in getting the NFL to endorse Carson over Kroenke’s Inglewood plan, that’s a huge plus for St. Louis. Goodell has said that the NFL will pick one stadium, not both. And the league won’t allow three teams to occupy the LA market. Two is the limit. If Kroenke loses out, he might have no choice but to cut a deal in St. Louis.

(Unless, of course, Kroenke chooses to take the league on in a protracted legal battle. Given that Kroenke already stands in violation of an NFL rule prohibiting cross ownership, a decision to go rogue could be risky business. This is another column for another time.)

If the Carson plan wins the battle for Los Angeles, the league would have solved the California problem inside California without stripping a franchise from another region.

Unlike Kroenke, the Chargers and Raiders have been waiting many years for new stadiums in their markets. The Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis might be dull, but it’s relatively new compared to the football stadiums in Oakland and San Diego. When measured against Kroenke, the Chargers and Raiders have it much worse in their current venues.

So if Carson emerges as the victor over Kroenke, and Peacock-Blitz finalize the stadium funding, you’d think it would put St. Louis in a great position.

But one thing that keeps my optimism in check and my confidence reduced by doubt — there are no guarantees. The NFL still won’t say that a new stadium will assure St. Louis of a place in the league. The NFL refuses to make that commitment.

At some point, this becomes a question of honor.

The NFL likes to tout its strong desire to keep teams in their markets, working on solutions, instead of letting them run away. And the league likes to strike a tough pose, pointing to its reinforced relocation rules, insisting that all teams must abide by them.

Here are the questions I have for Goodell:

How can this league allow the Rams to sprint to Los Angeles if St. Louis comes through with funding for a new stadium before the Rams’ lease expires at the Edward Jones Dome? How would that be permissible under the relocation rules?

How can this league abandon St. Louis when our town is prepared to build a second NFL venue in less than 25 years? How many NFL markets have made such an emphatic and expensive commitment as St. Louis?

How many times has the NFL vacated a market that has funding in place, and land purchased and cleared, to construct a $985 million stadium? How many times has the league allowed a franchise to run away from a new stadium? Actually, I can answer this one: it’s never happened.

Not only that, but St. Louis still is paying off the cost of building the Edward Jones Dome. But the market is willing to do this all over again, and deliver another new stadium.

That means we’ll be paying off two stadiums at the same time. In league history, has any market gone to such dramatic lengths to maintain NFL residency?

How could you possibly look anyone in the eye and say that Kroenke made a sincere effort in St. Louis when he wouldn’t even participate in one meeting with Peacock-Blitz or Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon?

The NFL makes a big show about standing on principle and ethics by fining players for violent hits, or suspending players that run afoul of the law, and disciplining players who haven’t been charged with a crime.

This is a league that just went over the top in penalizing the New England Patriots for using slightly deflated footballs, a rules infraction that until now had drawn nothing more severe than a warning or a $25,000 fine.

And that’s OK. If you want to be a league of strong ethics and morals, then make that stand. Just be consistent.

But if a billionaire owner has a chance to increase his fortune by abandoning one market (and a new stadium) to cash in on a more lucrative territory, then what? Are these ethical principles applied selectively, with special exemptions made for those empowered by wealth and privilege?

The NFL can’t put pressure on a city to build a stadium, provide counsel on how to get it done, and continue to encourage the efforts unless the league backs it up with integrity and gives the city an honest chance to keep its franchise.

You don’t have a league relocation policy that clearly puts the onus on franchises to make a genuine, exhaustive effort to settle stadium issues in their home markets — only to disregard those rules.
Through Peacock-Blitz, St. Louis is working hard to finalize funding for a new stadium. This is a market that’s shown an unusual level of determination — crazily so — to remain in the NFL.

We’ve made the commitment in the past. And through Peacock and Blitz, we’re making “tremendous” progress in trying to reaffirm it again now.

And if we make this stadium a reality and hold up our end of the commitment, I just hope St. Louis can trust the NFL to do the same.

[Hacksaw]

Unfortunately all of us know that St. Louis regardless of what Bernie reports is struggling as the Gateway City has lost quite a bit in corporations over the years. Enos Stanley Kroenke knows the better play is in Inglewood for so many obvious reasons. Now can it still work in St. Louis? I'm sure it can, but if the Rams win big in the Gateway City with a new stadium the best you can hope for is middle of the pack with the City of Champions the sky is the limit and the old guard knows the Rams need this in more ways than one.

Once the stadium is completed in Inglewood and The NFL Network is headquartered there, the Rams will be the toast of tinsel town and free agents will flock as we drink from the silver cup and take that highway to the sky.

Coach, you got me fired up..

[Hacksaw]

Bernie is a TOOL. If the team comes home, he is first on my short list of things I won't miss about StLouis.

[den-the-coach]

Bernie is a TOOL. If the team comes home, he is first on my short list of things I won't miss about StLouis.

I concur nothing against Jim Thomas either, but the thoughts of having Sam Farmer & Bill Plaschke covering the L.A. Rams over the likes of Miklasz & Jim Thomas has visions of sugar plums dancing in my head.

[Elvis]

I concur nothing against Jim Thomas either, but the thoughts of having Sam Farmer & Bill Plaschke covering the L.A. Rams over the likes of Miklasz & Jim Thomas has visions of sugar plums dancing in my head.

It will be interesting to see who the beat reporter for the times will be.

But i gotta say, i don't remember Rams coverage in L.A. all that fondly. Maybe i don't go back far enough (i didn't really start paying close attention till they were in Anaheim) but i always felt the times didn't cover them very well, certainly not compared to the Lakers and Dodgers.

One thing i remember that drove me crazy back in the day was in 1993, Robinson's last year and a miserable 3-13 season, all the Times ever seemed to write or ask about was Marcus Dupree...

[den-the-coach]

It will be interesting to see who the beat reporter for the times will be.

But i gotta say, i don't remember Rams coverage in L.A. all that fondly. Maybe i don't go back far enough (i didn't really start paying close attention till they were in Anaheim) but i always felt the times didn't cover them very well, certainly not compared to the Lakers and Dodgers.

One thing i remember that drove me crazy back in the day was in 1993, Robinson's last year and a miserable 3-13 season, all the Times ever seemed to write or ask about was Marcus Dupree...

That was a long time ago even before the internet and Al Gore was just inventing it when the Rams left Los Angeles. IMO they should cover them as well as other teams and they will be the Team Du Jour and the NFL is much bigger than the other sports. I'm hoping for Farmer and I'm betting when the Rams call a press conference in Los Angeles there will be more than five guys covering the conference looking for more than a ham sandwich.

[BuiltRamTough]

Stl is not the same market as what it was 20 years ago. That's the reality, the city is shrinking. LA in the other hand keeps growing.