Just Say ‘No’ to Mr. Kroenke

I believe “blackmail” is the appropriate word. There’s a power play underway to squeeze more of our tax dollars to benefit the already wealthy.

Billionaire Stan Kroenke, who owns the St. Louis Rams professional football team, announced a partnership to put a privately financed, 80,000-seat stadium in the Los Angeles area if voters there approve.

This stadium is part of plans to develop a 238-acre tract of homes, parks and office space at the former Hollywood Park racetrack located on the edge of the city. Besides the stadium, project plans also include a separate 6,000-seat performance venue and parking – situated near major freeways and LA International Airport and The Forum (former home to NBA’s Lakers).

Kroenke is using this project as leverage to push St. Louis (and Missouri taxpayers) to ante up for a new Rams stadium. Predictably, Gov. Jay Nixon’s task force studying the circumstances suggests a $900 million, 64,000-seat stadium could be built along the Mississippi River to keep the Rams’ home here.

The NFL has said no teams will move during this offseason, but decisions are at hand. The Rams have until Jan. 28 to tell St. Louis officials whether they’ll convert the current lease to a year-to-year agreement. Observers expect this to happen. If so, then the way opens for the Rams to bolt.

It’s hard to feel sorry for St. Louis. After all, St. Louis swiped the team from LA to crow about being one of 32 cities with an NFL team. The Rams played in Southern California from 1946 to 1994. But now the Edward D. Jones Dome, which once attracted the Rams to St. Louis, is considered outdated by NFL standards.

In my opinion, using public financing to help any of these billionaire team owners is disgusting. I say let the Rams walk.

Study after study indicates that public investment to build new stadiums for pro sports are a horrendous waste. The economic impact provided to cities has never lived up to the hype… except to the wealthy owners who are given shiny new palaces to make even more money.

I read where each Rams game provides an economic impact approaching $10 million. Yes, that’s good – unless placed in context.

In the 20 years since the team arrived, St. Louis lost a Ford plant and two Chrysler plants; Trans World Airlines folded into American Airlines; McConnel Douglas was purchased by Boeing; and May Department Stores was bought by Macy’s. Even Anheuser-Busch – synonymous with St. Louis – was sold. And St. Louis has survived.

The Rams employ about 200 people full time. This is less than 1% of the 26,000-plus employed by BJC HealthCare, the region’s largest employer. Thus, professional sports is more about glitter than true grit. Losing the Rams would be a blow to St. Louis’ pride, not economy.

The Rams aren’t even that desirable within the NFL ranks. The team’s annual revenues (about $225 million) ranks low in the league. That’s probably because they haven’t had a winning season in 11 consecutive years. It’s also because the Rams’ fan base is mostly local.

The Rams don’t even measure up well against the other professional teams in St. Louis. The Blues play 50 hockey games a year and attract fans from their nearby rival Nashville Predators and Chicago Blackhawks. No team in the region comes close to the economic impact generated by the baseball Cardinals. Experts estimate their value in the $320 million to $350 million range, depending on how far they go in the postseason.

But I digress. The real issue here is whether public tax money should be used to pressure a professional team into something their owners could do for themselves. Should we help billionaire owners make more money off us?

An organization called Americans For Prosperity (AFP) is providing a means to voice your opinion. AFP has created a website where you can sign a petition to tell Gov. Nixon and our legislators that you don’t want to pay $1 billion for another new stadium.

http://getstarted.americansforprosperity.org/mo-rams-stadium/

AFP-Missouri State Director, Patrick Werner, notes that every April over 200 various taxing entities in Missouri (like fire departments, schools and municipalities) ask the taxpayers for more money. While the idea of improving the St. Louis area is a worthwhile endeavor and keeping the jobs involved with having an NFL franchise is important, AFP wants to remind elected leaders that this stadium is not the only request for taxpayer money. You can endorse this reminder by using the website above.

The Stan Kroenkes of this world have nothing to lose in asking.

Kroenke is one of the richest owners in American sports. And he knows the ropes about building stadiums.

In 2006, at a cost of about $700 million, his soccer team opened a new stadium in England. Kroenke is the majority shareholder of the English Premier League soccer team, Arsenal. This team privately financed its new stadium. The successful project used private sponsorships and loans, an innovative bond program, and naming rights for financing.

Kroenke and others did this because they know a new stadium would help make them more money, no matter who paid for it.

You can’t fault Kroenke for asking for public subsidies if he thinks he can get them. Nobody turns down free money. At some point, we’ve got to be smart enough to just say “No.”

Personally, I like football as much as the next guy …perhaps a tad more than some. But let’s be honest. We’re building monuments to American greed whenever we allow the glitter to drive decisions like these.

Yes, a million dollars just doesn’t go as far as it used to. But, sorry Mr. Kroenke, that holds true for other choices, too. Missourians must ante up on highways with a decision pending on whether I-70 should become a toll road. We haven’t fully funded public education for years, and we ignore mental health needs throughout our state. And so on.

I hope those really involved in making this decision will keep one thing in mind: When a professional team moves, the sky doesn’t fall. The city left behind continues to be a city for more important reasons than its entertainment.

It is past time for those who benefit the most from new stadiums to be the investors. Billionaire team owners and millionaire team players should be the ones to pay for their facilities. It’s a cost of doing business. There’s enough blackmail going on whenever fans pay for tickets and parking, but that’s by voluntary choice. Using tax dollars to help keep this particular professional sports team in this instance is more than just encouraging blackmail. It sets the stage for more such shenanigans in the future. It’s asinine.