Venue Detail
St. Louis Cardinals
Revenues From Sports Venues Pro Facilities Report
February, 2012
St. Louis Cardinals
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700 Clark St St. Louis, MO 63102 Phone: 314-345-9600 URL: www.stlcardinals.com Owner: William DeWitt heads an ownership group League: Major League Baseball, National League, Central
Venue
Busch Stadium, 700 Clark St, St. Louis, MO 63102 Owner: St. Louis Cardinals Managed by: Team Built: 2006 Capacity: 46,861 Concessionaire: Sportservice Suite caterer: Sportservice Soft drink:
Naming rights
Sold to: Anheuser Busch
Ticket prices
Season tickets range from $972 to $3,240 Single tickets range from $13.00 to $90.00
Attendance
2009 average attendance: 41,274 2010 average attendance: 40,756 2011 average attendance: 38,197
Suites
Quantity: 63 Term: 10 to 10 years Price: $105,000 to $185,000 Seats: 10 to 24
Club seats
Quantity: 3,600 Price: $7,290 to $8,910
Seat licenses
The Cardinals had more buyers than sellers for 10,300 licensed seats for their new ballpark that opened in 2006. The seats, priced at $2,000 to $7,500, generate $40 million toward the venue's construction.
The team received about 12,000 offers to buy and gave those that didn’t get licenses the chance to buy season tickets before the general public.
After years of struggle, the St. Louis Cardinals opened their new ballpark in 2006.
The Cardinals agreed to pick up a greater share of the tab for a new ballpark in an effort to get the project underway. The move will make the team the owners of their new $387.5 million ballpark instead of tenants.
The Cardinals had been looking for a private investor to fund the 46,000-seat venue, then lease it back to the team. After months of searching, no investor could be found, so the team took on the job itself. The team's investment now comes to $90 million up front and $200 million in bonds. St. Louis County will invest $45 million and the state will fund site costs and provide the team with tax credits that can be sold.
The team's investment was made possible by leasing most of the suites in the new ballpark on 10-year contracts and support from concessionaire Sportservice and Fox Sports Net Midwest.
The team sold seat licenses for 10,300 seats under a program called Ballpark Founders. The program will allow license buyers to have fixed season ticket prices through 2010. Licenses were priced from $2,000 to $7,500 and were offered first to season ticket holders. The licenses were expected to raise $40 million.
The program also has a new twist. It allows buyers to sell the licenses back to the team for a full refund within 12 to 20 years after purchase. After 20 years only partial refunds will be offered. Licenses are transferrable and can be purchased over four years.
The Cardinals are required to make annual principal and interest payments over a 22-year period, averaging approximately $15.9 million a year, to retire the bonds.
The Cardinals will develop land around the new venue. The first $60 million development funded by the Cardinals must be complete by 2009 and the second phase must be done by 2011.
Anheuser Busch struck a 20-year deal with the Cardinals to keep the company's name on the team's new ballpark. The venue will be called Busch Stadium, as is the current ballpark. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The $150 million sale in 1999 of the St. Louis Cardinals by Anheuser-Busch to a group headed by William DeWitt, Jr., a Cincinnati businessman, included Busch Stadium and parking garages. August A. Busch, the previous owner, purchased the Cardinals for $2.5 million in 1953. Anheuser-Busch upgraded 30 year-old Busch Stadium at the same time it negotiated the sale of the team and parking garages to DeWitt. (Baseball, Facilities, Financial, MLBMLB, Professional Sports)