On January 6th 2012 I wrote a piece for SB Nation titled ‘Will We Regret The Day Shahid Khan Was Blocked From Buying The St. Louis Rams?‘
Less than 4 years later, the Rams are no longer a team that plays football in St. Louis.
I’m wrong all the time. And – candidly – I wish that piece was wrong. I wish that the Rams were still playing in St. Louis.
I mention the Rams situation because St. Louis sports fans are once again in a position where a team could be in jeopardy of leaving.
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On Tuesday an article by Nicholas Pistor and David Hunn of the Post-Dispatch was published and quickly forgotten by most.
Considering this is a city that was just burned by the NFL and Stan Kroenke, you’d think the following would have raised more than a few eyebrows:
On Friday, officials from the St. Louis Blues and the regional St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission met with city and county leaders about the future of the Scottrade Center and the city’s convention center complex, discussing renovations that would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, although a firm price tag isn’t known.
Sound familiar?
Ok, OKAAAAY…
You’re right. The Blues don’t have the same ‘top-tier’ clause that the Rams had with the Edward Jones Dome allowing them to deuce STL with the quickness. There isn’t (currently) a clear path for the Blues to re-locate.
And you’re also right when you say that nothing in this article even hints at the fact that the Blues want to leave the Scottrade Center or St. Louis writ large.
But…
FACTS
1) The Blues had a operating income (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of -7.1M (est) in 2015 according to Forbes. Yes, it cost the Blues ownership group money to run the Blues last year.
2) Two cities (Las Vegas | T Mobile Arena & Kansas City | Sprint Center) have facilities that are ready for an NHL team to move into ASAP and have both have (LV | KC) expressed interest in acquiring an NHL team to do exactly that.
3) The Scottrade center is the 7th oldest area in the NHL (opened 1994). Here are the 6 facilities that are older and currently in use:
- Joe Louis Arena (Detroit) will be demolished in 2017 for a new facility.
- Edmonton will replace Rexall Place with Rogers Place next season.
- Madison Square Garden (New York) is finishing up a huge renovation.
- San Jose has promised big tax incentives for Sharks to stay at SAP Center.
- Calgary is working on a replacement for the Saddledome.
- The Honda Center recently (2013) completed a renovation.
4) The Blues ownership group (as of the original team purchase in 2012) consisted of 16 named people. Partial owners included Tom Stillman (Chairman & CEO), Donn Lux (Luxco), Stephen Maritz (Maritz Inc.), David Steward (World Wide Technology), James Johnson (Stifel Nicolaus & Co.) and Thomas Schlafly (Thompson Coburn/The Saint Louis Brewery). Plus more.
NOT FACTS, BUT SAFE TO ASSUME
1) The Blues ownership doesn’t want to continue to lose money on their investment.
2) The City/County of St. Louis’ appetite for spending public dollars on stadiums is tepid at best. They’re still paying off bonds for a stadium that is currently vacant. They fought hard to give even more tax dollars to the Rams in return for them staying despite a good number of citizens being opposed.
3) Ownership groups in other cities would be eager to have an NHL team from a current NHL city relocate to their area.
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Many will point to this article that includes an interview with Mr. Stillman after the Rams move became official. I will point you back to Stan Kroenke’s comments he made when he took controlling interest of the Rams.
I have no doubt that Mr. Stillman (and the rest of the Blues ownership group) truly want the Blues to be in St. Louis.
But.
BUT.
Talk is cheap. When it comes to civic pride versus money, money always wins in sports.
And at this point in the game, the Blues aren’t a profitable team for the owners. A big infusion of public funds into the Scottrade Center would help ease the pain (and perhaps help them to turn a profit), but will it happen?
TBD.
Just know that the ask is already being made.
If the city and county don’t step up, then we could see the Post-Dispatch article above as the first sign that trouble was ahead.
Fingers crossed.
Photo: Rukkus
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