St. Louis, Los Angeles Stadium Plan Update: Less STL Public Money, Potential of Kroenke Giving Up Rams, Peacock as St. Louis MLS Owner

We've got three new storylines in the St. Louis/Los Angeles stadium saga. Here's the rundown.

St. Louis Plan To Ask For $100m Bond Funding Less Than Expected

St. Louis Stadium Task Force Co-Chair Dave Peacock was at a breakfast event in St. Louis yesterday where he clarified one of the new details about the financing plan, per a report from Brian Feldt in the St. Louis Business Journal. The bonds to be raised from the city and state would bring in $250m as opposed to the $350 originally suggested. The plan has been adjusted to this by adding an increase in tax credits to the Brownfield and Missouri Development Finance Board.

It's a small detail, but it reflects the how dedicated the body politic is to avoid extending the bonds themselves to raise more funding and perhaps the bigger question as to the legality, and purposefulness, of the new bonds meant to raise that capital in the first place.

But Peacock's more than happy to pour some cold water on any spirit of excitement for St. Louis:

We won’t be as flashy as Los Angeles’ plans or as funky as the retractable roof in Atlanta.

Yeah, let that one pump you up, St. Louisans.

Kroenke to Go to LA for Other NFL team, Rams to Stay in St. Louis?

From that same article, the final paragraph is pretty telling about how desperate Peacock really is in all of this:

"It’s possible we have different ownership of the (Rams) because I think (Kroenke) is really committed to Los Angeles," Peacock said. "I’m not against Stan going to Los Angeles, I just don’t want our team there... This is why we’re spending most of our time with the league — we think this is an NFL issue."

I've offered all along that this was an NFL issue and that the city of St. Louis had more work to do with the league than the Rams, but this sentiment of Kroenke leaving the Rams to the city of St. Louis is...............let's just all think nice things like this all the time. The world will be a happier place.

Peacock as St. Louis MLS Owner

ESPN's Jeff Carlisle asked Peacock if he could potentially be part of an ownership group that would help MLS expand into St. Louis. He responded with a resounding...maybe. Credit Peacock for being as sensible as you could ask for, but that's about as headline-worthy as the already vocal current owner of the Rams...

The key here for Rams fans is the draw for the NFL on the St. Louis market:

If that sounds like the MLS team is taking a back seat to the Rams, well, it is, although Peacock is of the belief that an MLS expansion side in St. Louis makes sense regardless of what happens with the city's NFL team.

"I think we're first and foremost Rams," Peacock told ESPN FC via telephone. "We want to retain the team. The project that's enabling us to keep the [Rams] creates an opportunity for MLS. I think if something were to fall through -- and I can't imagine that happening -- I think the region could still support an MLS team."

The region. Bear in mind just a month and a half ago, MLS announced it would be adding an expansion team in Minneapolis. What makes that situation worth watching for Rams fans is that the team doesn't have a stadium. While MLS seeks to not have its teams play in football stadiums, the expansion into Minnesota without a stadium plan in place seems awfully risky to me. Then again, the Rams offer some strong bias when it comes to stadium planning.

They have a deadline of July 1 to have their stadium plan fully put together, so it will set an interesting precedent for St. Louis as Minneapolis has already started construction on their new NFL stadium for the Vikings.

Somehow in the end though, I think Dave Peacock will be ok.