St. Louis County Executive Sam Page achieved the impossible Monday.
He said something about the settlement of the Rams relocation saga with which every person interested in it can agree.
“Most everyone in our community had an opinion over the weekend about how these funds should be spent,” Page said of the $790 million check from the NFL that is due to arrive in the region’s mailbox before Christmas.
Everyone, and then some. Yours truly included. This sports guy will, perhaps predictably, stick up for earmarking some of the more than $500 million left over after the lawyers get paid to use for, you know, sports.
But first, some nuts and bolts. You all wanted answers. I spent Monday asking questions.
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones and Page made their first public comments about the settlement, with Page taking questions at his weekly news conference and Jones speaking with the Post-Dispatch by phone.
Both officials were mindful of the protective order that extends through the completion of the settlement; that’s the reason you will not hear from Team STL lawyers for a while.
Both were quick to point out two obvious topics — the splitting of the money between the city, the county and the dome authority and where it will ultimately go once spilt — will be sorted out in meetings, hopefully productive and cooperatives ones, that haven’t happened yet.
Both made it clear they believe this outcome was a big success.
Jones happened to be enjoying a glass of bourbon when she received the news late Tuesday night that the deal was all-but done. How did she celebrate?
“I had another sip,” she said.
“My initial thought was, I wasn’t sure we could take on the NFL and win,” Jones added. “There were a lot of naysayers when this lawsuit was originally filed back in 2017. But I was pleased with the results.”
Jones said she has heard from mayors across the nation, ones with and without NFL teams, congratulating STL for standing up to The Shield.
“I believe it was a win,” she said. “I think it sends a message to other cities that are currently in negotiations with the NFL that you don’t always have to take everything that they give you. Pay attention to the rules. Pay attention to the rules they have set for themselves, and make sure they are following them.”
But why settle now? Why not push for more? Why not go to trial and capture the nation’s attention?
“Well, we all know that when you take things to court, it can be a long process,” Jones said. “We’ve already been in this process since 2017. I felt it was time to put it to rest.”
Added Page: “The experts that were advising us, our county counselor’s office and our outside legal counsel advised us the settlement was a good settlement for St. Louis County and St. Louis City, and that we should accept it and move on.”
Some continue to believe an NFL expansion team could have been a realistic outcome if St. Louis kept heat on the league. None of the decision-makers on the St. Louis side seem to agree.
“The reason we are in this lawsuit was because the NFL and its owners broke their own rules of relocation,” Jones said. “So, I think this is a moment for us to take a look at the NFL as a franchise, as an organization, and make sure the relationship that they have with cities are ones where the cities are partners, and the cities are getting the best benefit for their presence in their cities. And that’s not always the case. That wasn’t the case with St. Louis, with our original deal.
“So, I think this is a moment for cities to look at their relationships and make sure they are getting what they deserve by having an NFL franchise in their cities. I’m not at liberty to say what I would have done if an NFL franchise was offered to us, because as far as I’m aware that wasn’t even part of the discussion.”
What is very much part of the discussion moving forward is what should be done with the dough. Page paraphrased my question as asking if the cash will become a casualty of politics. It was an accurate summary.
“All of the parties in this settlement have a good working relationship, have a lot of respect for one another,” Page said.
“All I can do is show them better than I can tell them,” Jones said.
Good answer.
Now, here are my suggestions.
One look at San Antonio’s Alamodome, opened in 1993, offers a good idea of what a well-maintained yet older dome structure can do in terms of attracting all kinds of events, sports and otherwise, that lead to money being poured into a region.
When St. Louis is competing with other cities for dome events, it’s going up against places such as Atlanta, Dallas, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Houston and Phoenix. Those cities have newer facilities.
Fortunately, we have the hard-working St. Louis Sports Commission. But why not use some of the money to help close the gap? Making the dome downtown an easier pick for big events would not be as hard as fulfilling the regrettable first-tier clause that gave Rams owner Stan Kroenke an exit ramp toward California.
Speaking of California ...
One look at Los Angeles, believe it or not, offers another intriguing option. Before it was an awe-inspiring force of good for the youth sports scene in Southern California, the LA84 Foundation was created to manage the region’s surplus revenue from the 1984 Olympic Games. By 2015 the private independent foundation had more than doubled its $93 million endowment while also distributing more than $225 million to youth sports organizations through everything from grants, to training sessions for youth coaches and a whole lot more.
I bet some of the best and brightest financial minds in St. Louis could partner with their old friend compounding interest to do a lot of good for the local sports scene for years to come. Especially with a couple hundred million dollars or so to start to help fund current programs and create new ones. What a legacy that could leave, don’t you agree?
