As talk intensifies that one or two franchises from the Rams, Raiders, or Chargers will return to L.A. (yes, all three once played there), the powers-that-be in St. Louis could be trying to ensure that the Rams don’t make the move.
Brian Burwell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently reported a proposal could soon be coming for an open-air stadium along the St. Louis riverfront between the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge and the Lumiere Place Casino and Hotels. A retractable roof is possible, but a lidless venue seems to be both cheaper and more politically viable.
Burwell calls it a “serious movement” to build an “impressive” new venue in St. Louis. But time is of the essence. Because state and local officials opted not to do what an arbitration panel concluded would be necessary to put the Edward Jones Dome in the top 25 percent of all NFL stadiums, the Rams now have the right to leave after each and every season.
Some think owner Stan Kroenke, who remains silent on pretty much all issues about pretty much everything he owns, already has determined to take the Rams back to L.A., with his recently-purchased acreage in Inglewood becoming the landing spot for the new stadium.
The team’s fans (however many there really are in St. Louis) remain caught in the middle. Burwell writes that Kroenke was booed at halftime of Monday night’s loss to the 49ers, a game that celebrated the 15th anniversary of the Greatest Show on Turf.
It’s no surprise he was booed. Kroenke could soon be dropping the curtain on the entire production, and taking it back to the place from which St. Louis lured it, with a new stadium and the promise of major upgrade after 20 years or the ability to exit stage left.
