Scrambling to keep the NFL in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS — If St. Louis loses its NFL team, experts say itwould have a “small potatoes” economic impact. The blow to region’s psyche, they say, would be far greater.

The beleaguered fan base took another hit on Monday, when Rams owner Stan Kroenke joined in a development group that’s planning an 80,000seat stadium in the Los Angeles suburbs. Yes, the Rams appear to be going back west, perhaps in 2016, just two decades after St. Louis swiped the team from L.A.

Itwould make St. Louis a twotime loser in NFL circles— the Cardinals bolted for Arizona in 1987. Though St. Louis and Missouri officials are fighting to keep a team — be it the Rams or another one— even going so far as to unveil a design for a new riverfront stadium, it appears at this point to be a longshot.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon knows there are precious few franchises in the nation’s favorite sport.

“We’re one of 32 in the world,” Nixon said. “It’svery valuable toour state.”

But that value is more about civic pride, not economics, economists and city leaders say.

“If you want to be a majorleague city, youwant to have an NFL team,” St. Louis Sports Commission President FrankViverito said.

And losing the Rams would pale in comparison financially to some of the other businesses that have left the region at a cost of thousands of highpaying jobs. In the 20 years since the team arrived, St. Louis lost a Ford plant and two Chrysler plants; TransWorld Airlines folded into American Airlines; McDonnell Douglas was purchased by Boeing; andMay Department Stores was bought by Macy’s. Even AnheuserBusch— synonymous with St. Louis — was sold.

The Rams, meanwhile, employ about 200 people fulltime, less than 1 percent of the 26,000plus employed by BJC HealthCare, the region’s largest employer. The team’s annual revenue, about $225 million, ranks low among both NFL teams and public companies in the region.

As for the economic benefit of home games, the Rams again come up short when compared to the NHL’s Blues and the city’s dominant team, MLB’sCardinals— mostly because hockey and baseball seasons have so many more games, said Glenn MacDonald, economist at the Olin Business School atWashington University.

Counting preseason and postseason games, the Blues typically play at home about 50 times a year, drawing fans from nearby rival teams the Nashville Predators and Chicago Blackhawks.

And no team in the region comes close to the economic impact generated by the Cardinals, who draw more than 3 million fans a year to 81 regularseason home games. Their fan base is spread throughout the Midwest and South, and with mostly threeand fourgame series, downtown hotels fill up.

The St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association has estimated the Cardinals’ annual economic value in the $320 million to $350 million range, depending on howfar they go into the postseason.

Rams games are different. The fan base is mostly local — unlike the Packers, Cowboys or Steelers, the Rams have little following outside of the area (except for diehard fans who remain inCalifornia)— so they don’t stay at hotels and aren’t much into tailgating.

The Rams also play only two preseason and eight regularseason games at home. And playoffs? The Rams haven’t had a winning season in 11 years and haven’t hosted a playoff game since 2003.

Each football game’s economic impact is in the neighborhood of $10 million, MacDonald said.

“It really boils downto small potatoes,” he said. “There are lots of reasons to be interested in the Rams, but the direct economiceffect is relatively minor.”

Nevertheless, major league teams, like the Rams, end up becoming “part of your civic identity,” said Jeff Rainford, chief of staff for St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay.

“We have the Arch, the St. Louis Symphony, the Cardinals and Rams and Blues, and that becomes part of whowe are,” he said.

St. Louis certainly isn’t giving up. A committee appointed by Nixon announced plans Friday for a new openair stadium along the Mississippi River. The stadium, expected to cost between $860 million and $985 million, would be built through a combination of team and NFL funding, seat licensing and public funding already in place. Nixon and city leaders agree newpublic money is not an option.

“We want an NFL franchise, but not at any cost,” Rainford said.—