[BuiltRamTough]

http://m.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-a ... touch=true

Stadium financing revealed: City to pay $70 million, plus rebate some taxes : News

ST. LOUIS • The city will pay $6 million a year toward a new riverfront football stadium, plus rebate a still-unknown portion of game-day taxes back to the team, according to new aldermanic bills obtained by the Post-Dispatch.

The office of Mayor Francis Slay has committed to paying $150 million of the $1 billion construction and planning cost.

The annual $6 million — the same amount now going to cover debt payments on the current stadium, the Edward Jones Dome — will cover about $70 million of the city’s commitment.

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The second half of the money will not be paid by the city, but instead by the public authority that owns the Jones Dome, according to the legislation. That body will leverage the $158 million naming rights deal, recently announced by Enterprise Holdings, to create $75 million in cash, covering the rest of the city’s share of the construction costs, the bills say.

The game-day taxes then will reimburse team owners for the naming-rights revenue, which the National Football League generally considers team money, not public dollars.

Slay’s chief of staff, Mary Ellen Ponder, confirmed on Friday the content of the board bills, which she anticipates will be introduced at next Friday’s meeting of the Board of Aldermen.

But she cautioned that the legislation obtained by the Post-Dispatch is a draft, with important holes still being negotiated.

The percentage of game-day taxes rebated back to the NFL team, for instance, is a big deal, she acknowledged. If the team gets all the taxes, the city could lose a large chunk of annual revenue.

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Still, she called the bills a good deal for the city.

“The best deal for the city can’t be looked at by direct revenues only,” she said. “You have to look at the intangible benefits of keeping the NFL, and ideally the Rams, in the city.”

NFL executives have not seen the most recent version of these bills. Ponder said she was hopeful the NFL would accept the proposal. “I think we have some great ambassadors in St. Louis who are working very closely with the NFL,” she said, speaking about Gov. Jay Nixon’s stadium task force. “And I think they can get it through.”

This story is breaking. Check back for more details throughout the day.

[BuiltRamTough]

So basically STL is not getting any tax money? Only getting this?

“The best deal for the city can’t be looked at by direct revenues only,” she said. “You have to look at the intangible benefits of keeping the NFL, and ideally the Rams, in the city.”

[RedAlice]

So, the task force negotiated a naming rights deal with no input or acceptance from the owner, and now wants to use the money from that naming rights deal to pay for the gap in the city's portion of the stadium build and then pay him back with taxes on the game day experience. It's still taxes.

Don't naming rights typically go to the owner?

[BuiltRamTough]

Half of the naming rights will go to the owner and half will be paid to the owner over time via game day tax revenue that usually would go to the city. Lol STL is doing this basically for free. It's a solid deal for a team.

The only benefit the city gets is keeping an NFL team and redeveloping a blithed area. Other then that they're not really getting any money back.

[The Ripper]

Stories been updated the game day taxes are already revenues that go to the team. They take the PSL's, naming rights and give him his own revenues back so not a good deal for the Rams.

"NFL Vice President Eric Grubman told the Post-Dispatch on Friday that he had not seen the records.

He reiterated that, generally, the NFL considers naming rights and even game-day taxes — on tickets, hotdogs, parking and beer, for instance — revenues that belong to team owners, not to the public.

And if such money was bonded to pay for construction costs, he said, it should be credited toward the team’s portion, not the public’s.

“It's an NFL asset in the way we view the world,” Grubman said. “Whether on tickets or parking, that tax wouldn't exist but for the activities of the team.”

He noted that corporations in a variety of industries often ask for such tax breaks."

[SoCalRam78]

So, the task force negotiated a naming rights deal with no input or acceptance from the owner, and now wants to use the money from that naming rights deal to pay for the gap in the city's portion of the stadium build and then pay him back with taxes on the game day experience. It's still taxes.

Don't naming rights typically go to the owner?

yes and yes. But he should be getting both revenue streams.

Another loophole to try and keep the figure at 6 million.

"Hey, we're only committing 70 million now, and the rest of the money is coming from the Naming Rights Deal, which should be for the owners and NFL. Then the revenue taxes that were supposed to go to the team/NFL in the first place will go back to the team owner to repay that money."

Just voodoo math to try and alleviate public pressure. And a terrible deal for SK.

[BuiltRamTough]

Lol at the NFL and Grubman. These guys want every nickel.

I didn't know the owners get all those taxes from beer and shit. It's not a solid deal after all.

[The Ripper]

It's a proposal for an expansion team but even then it would be a difficult sell to the NFL.

[RedAlice]

I honestly don't see that the public is contributing much at all to this stadium.

Everything they say Kroenke doesn't have to pay, is actually money he has the rights to - PSL's, naming rights and sponsorships, now even game day taxes. Then he still has to give cash and go on the hook for a G-4 loan.

This voodoo math might be the best thing they could pass - it will be rejected by both the NFL and Kroenke.

[Elvis]

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news ... adium.html

City considers tax rebate for new stadium

Brian Feldt

The city of St. Louis’ portion of the proposed $1 billion NFL stadium on St. Louis’ north Mississippi riverfront — $150 million overall — would be split between bond proceeds and money received through the stadium’s recently signed $158 million naming rights deal with National Car Rental, said St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay’s Chief of Staff Mary Ellen Ponder on Friday.

The bond proceeds would contribute $70 million — or $6 million annually through 2051 — while the naming rights money would cover an additional $75 million that would be paid by the St. Louis Regional Sports Authority (RSA). The RSA inked the naming rights deal with National, a unit of St. Louis-based Enterprise Holdings, earlier this month.

Because most stadium naming rights revenue is given to the NFL, the city would then use game-day tax revenue to reimburse the league or team, meaning the city would lose out on that money.

Ponder said the city is still deciding which taxes it would use to reimburse the league, though the NFL prefers the city use amusement, sales, restaurant, parking and license tax generated on game days.

Any overruns in stadium construction would be paid for by the RSA.

The stadium financing bill is expected to be officially introduced to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen next week, Ponder said.

The process for approving city funding has moved slower than expected. City officials had hoped to file a funding bill with the board by mid-September. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters earlier this month that delays on financing commitments for the St. Louis project were a concern. And stadium task force co-leader Dave Peacock, who did not immediately return a call for comment on the aldermen bill, has said a no vote — or significant delay — at the board could kill the project.

The NFL has not seen the city’s bill, though the RSA has submitted a term sheet to the league that likely outlines how construction of the stadium would be funded, and how the city of St. Louis and state of Missouri, which would own the stadium through the RSA, plan to share revenue with an NFL team playing there.

Meanwhile, Rams owner Stan Kroenke has plans to build a $2 billion stadium in Inglewood, California. It’s one of two stadium plans the NFL is considering as it determines which team or teams will be allowed to move to Los Angeles for the 2016 season. The Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers also have a joint stadium plan in Carson, California.

NFL officials hope to have the relocation quagmire solved by the Super Bowl, which is scheduled for Feb. 7. Peacock has said he believes St. Louis will know its fate by the end of the year, or early on in 2016.