Kroenke hearts St. Louis

by Ryan Van Bibber on Apr 21, 2010 8:32 AM CDT in St. Louis Rams sale

Stan Kroenke told Bernie Miklasz of the Post-Dispatch today that he would like to keep the St. Louis Rams under the Arch.

I'm going to attempt to do everything that I can to keep the Rams in St. Louis. Just as I did everything that I could to bring the team to St. Louis in 1995. I believe my actions speak for themselves.

I've always stepped up for pro football in St. Louis. And I'm stepping up one more time.

As I've said before, my roots run pretty deep in St. Louis, and on a personal level this is good news. On the business side of things though, Kroenke and everyone else knows that in the NFL any team in any city can make a profit. Remember, the buy low price for the Rams was around $750 million. Get the team back on track, and that could easily get back to the billion dollar neighborhood. Teams don't always make big profits, and a sub-standard product on the field will kill the bottom line as fast as anything as fans stop buying tickets and watching the games. The Rams could be especially profitable if they can get a new stadium deal done, and though it's never been said, I'll wager that the possibility of getting a stadium is a big part of Kroenke's interest in the Rams. He does have a track record with owning teams and the venues where they play, to wit, the Pepsi Center and the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets.

If the draft goes well for the Rams this weekend, the franchise should be a giant leap closer to a better future. That would sell tickets and make a stadium deal much more realistic.

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Comments

I'm not sure I really trust Kroenke.

But at least he is saying the right things. What’s he supposed to say, right? And that whole “I’ll do everything I can” leaves a lot of open holes. Anyway, this just popped in my head so I thought I’d send it out into the interwebs.

Does the prospect of building a new stadium in St. Louis inspire Kroenke more than moving to Los Angeles into an already build and owned by someone else stadium? Part of me thinks he’d want to put his own stamp on a stadium. A luxury he does not have in LA. Then again, money talks. But Kroenke, while he really loves his money, he has a very large ego as well.

Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.

- John Wayne

by Tackle Box on Apr 21, 2010 11:40 AM CDT reply actions

He owns the place in which his Denver teams play.

He knows there is lots of cash flow and profit in owning the stadium. It’s a perfect pairing, cash flow and early profits from the stadium, great build-up of value in the team franchise that can be realized down the line when you sell.

I agree it is hard to completely trust Kroenke, because he’s a business man first and foremost. My guess is that he will start talking about a new stadium in a year or two, and really put the pressure one as 2014 approaches. Once the city is desperate and really worried about losing the team, he’ll present an approach that will make building a new stadium just barely doable through all sorts of tax credits and funding help, and the city and state politicians will fall all over themselves agreeing to it and telling everyone what a great guy he is. Bottom line, the Rams are playing in a ndw stadium owned by Kroenke by about 2016.

by andyrose on Apr 21, 2010 3:49 PM CDT up reply actions