Photography by Kelly Martin, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Los Angeles is preparing for the possibility of continued life without an NFL franchise, be it the Rams or an expansion team.
The 2014 NFL season will be well underway in October, when AEG Entertainment's proposal to build a state-of-art football stadium adjacent to the L.A. Convention Center expires. That deal can only go into action if an NFL franchise has committed to play in that stadium. Now, the odds of that happening seem long, if not impossible.
St. Louis Rams fans should wait for those three months to pass, however, before declaring that Los Angeles is no longer a threat to snatch the team from this region. There's also still the mystery of Rams owner Stan Kroenke’s purchase of a 60-acre site between the The Forum and the former Hollywood Park horse-racing track. And some L.A. sports fans have discussed an NFL facility near Dodger Stadium's present site, as well as the possibility of a stadium at Grand Crossing in Industry, Calif.
But the best bet for L.A. is the downtown stadium plan, because its city council approved the deal with much fanfare, in part because AEG promised to breathe new life into the aging convention center. As the Los Angeles Times wrote in a recent editorial, “If there is no football team, there’s no stadium and no renovated convention center.”
Rather than wait three months to see what happens—which seems to be St. Louis' current plan with the Edward Jones Dome—the L.A. City Council is working on its Plan B for the convention center. The council approved a proposal to borrow money for an estimated $300 million convention-center renovation, should the stadium plan fall through. (Even with a loan, the council realizes that some private dollars will be needed to complete the project.)
Architectural firms would be asked to submit proposals to not only expand and improve L.A.'s convention center, but also to “identify private development opportunities,” such as a 1,000-room hotel. There's still debate about whether the city needs a new mega-hotel and what it would do for the downtown area. But while questions remain, Los Angeles is not just waiting for an NFL franchise to miraculously show up.
According to the NFL calendar, the Rams are officially in the final season of the lease with the Edward Jones Dome. If nothing changes by the end of the season, the franchise is a free agent. It could continue to play in the dome on a year-to-year basis, Kroenke could announce he will build his own football palace elsewhere in the area, or he could move the team to another city.
In the meantime, Los Angeles' leaders are demonstrating one way to handle business without an NFL franchise, working to improve a major part of its downtown area.
Here in St. Louis, the Edward Jones Dome needs an extra $40 million for maintenance costs during the next 15 years. The $16 million in reserve to handle these costs is estimated to be gone by 2020. The St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority would like the city of St. Louis, St. Louis County, and the state of Missouri to send the dome an additional $40 million in cash or to sell $40 million in new bonds. The dome’s owners have also proposed adding stadium-related items to the city's bond issue list for a public vote.
This is not a Plan B. This is a desperate cry for help.
Hopefully, someone is putting thought into St. Louis' Plan B. Waiting for Kroenke to announce the franchise will remain in St. Louis or hoping the NFL will come to the rescue are not plans.
L.A. isn’t waiting three months. It's getting on with business. As the clock ticks, this region should be just as proactive in announcing what it intends to do.
