Venue Detail
St. Louis Rams
Revenues From Sports Venues Pro Facilities Report
February, 2012
St. Louis Rams
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1 Rams Way St. Louis, MO 63045 Phone: 314-982-7267 Fax: 314-231-3781 URL: www.stlouisrams.com Owner: Stan Kroenke and other investors League: National Football League, NFC West
Venue
Edward Jones Dome, 801 Convention Plz, St. Louis, MO 63101-1296 Owner: St. Louis Regional Convention & Sports Complex Managed by: St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission Built: 1995 Capacity: 70,000 Permanent concession stands: 58 Concessionaire: Centerplate Suite caterer: The Levy Restaurants Soft drink: Coca Cola Beer: Anheuser-Busch InBev
Naming rights
Sold to: Edward D. Jones & Co. Price: $73,600,000 Term: 23 years Expires: 2025
Ticket prices
Season tickets range from $250 to $1,400 Single tickets range from $45.00 to $360.00
Attendance
2009 average attendance: 55,237 2010 average attendance: 52,922 2011 average attendance: 56,394
Suites
Quantity: 124 Term: 4 to 15 years Price: $58,000 to $135,000 Seats: 10 to 36 Includes: Parking. Party suite holds up to 54 people and leases for $15,000 to $20,000 per game.
Club seats
Quantity: 6,425 Term: 3 to 7 years Price: $1,275 to $2,750 Includes: Tickets, private restaurant access, wait staff.
Financing
Sale of $12 million in personal seat licenses helped build this $299 million facility. A sports authority issued $259 million in bonds supported by a state appropriation. The county backs 25 percent of the debt with a hotel/motel tax and another 25 percent is guaranteed by the city with convention center earnings.
Seat licenses
The team is charging between $250 and $4,500 per PSL. The licenses are transferrable and are good for life.
The Edward Jones Dome, formerly the Dome at America's Center and the TransWorld Dome, is the home of the NFL Rams. The Edward D. Jones brokerage firm picked up naming rights to the St. Louis stadium in 2002. The deal with the Rams is for $73.6 million over 23 years. TWA paid $26 million for 26 years. The airline went into bankruptcy and its assets were sold to American Airlines.
The company made the purchase to boost its visibility as it expands in the Midwest. The deal will give the Rams $2.65 million a year for the first 12 years, then the company can extend the deal another 11 years. The Rams get 75 percent of the money with the rest going to the Convention and Visitors Commission.
The Dome could be up for upgrades in the future. The lease between the Rams and the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission requires that the stadium be in the top 25 percent of stadiums in the NFL in order to bind the team to the venue. Observers are concerned that, with the team up for sale, that the franchise could relocate if the conditions aren’t met.
There are 15 conditions that must be measured in order to determine if the building meets the criteria ranging from luxury suites to club seats, lighting to scoreboards, regular stadium seating, concession areas, common areas (such as concourses and restrooms), electronic and telecommunications equipment, the playing surface, and the locker and training rooms.
None of the provisions for suites, club seats, or stadium seats deals with quantities. The measurements have to do with whether the seats are cushioned or how they compare in width with other first-tier stadiums. Concourse widths are important as is lighting and scoreboard technology.
If the CVC, which runs the dome, were held to strict first-tier standards, how much would it take for the stadium to become a top eight facility by 2015, the deadline for the CVC to bring the venue up to standards. The figure is not known, but it is estimated to be tens of millions.
Twice postponed, the 2005 measurement for first-tier status never took place. The parties agreed instead to $30 million in improvements that included scoreboards.
The next scheduled deadline for first-tier status is March 1, 2015. But the process that could lead to the Rams getting out of the lease and potentially relocating starts much sooner – in just 2½ years.
On or before Feb. 1, 2012, the CVC must deliver a preliminary plan for first-tier improvements. The overall plan must include a financial plan, as well as the source of those funds.
The Rams then have until March 1, 2012, to notify the CVC if they approve or disapprove of those plans.
At that point, the Rams have until May 1, 2012, to submit an alternate plan, with the CVC then given until June 1, 2012, to accept or reject the Rams' alternate plan.
If the CVC rejects the Rams' alternate plan, the matter goes to arbitration on June 15, 2012. The arbitration must be completed by the end of 2012.
If no agreement is reached, the stadium lease would then convert to a year-to-year lease, with the Rams free to move after the 2014 season.
The Rams offer fans prepaid smart cards for use in concession stand purchases. Fans can purchase cards in $25 or $50 denominations.
Twenty four concession stands were outfitted as express lanes that will allow fans to swipe the cards as payment. The card's value is debited for the purchase price. No discounts are given for card use. Sponsorships may be sold for images on the cards in future seasons.
The Rams purchased the service from FastBreak, a division of Chicago's SportsCorp Ltd. The company says it expects to have the service in other venues.
The $299 million venue, financed out of state and local tax dollars, gives the team all revenue from gate, concessions and luxury seating. The league got $20 million in November 1995 as a relocation fee, with that money raised from the sale of PSLs. This state-of-the-art facility also serves as part of a larger convention center and can be subdivided so many events can take place at once.
The Rams pay $250,000 a year in rent at the Dome. (Facilities, Financial, Football, NFLNFL, Professional Sports)