While "conceding there’s a lot of work to be done," Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon's stadium task force co-heads Dave Peacock and Bob Blitz on Friday "expressed growing confidence that the St. Louis stadium plan would have all the boxes checked to meet NFL approval in the fall," according to Jim Thomas of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. Peacock said, "We’re going to take it to a point, but we’ve got to be met halfway. We’ve been clear from January, and we didn’t change in this message, that we’re trying to get somewhere in the $400 million range in public funding.” He added, "And then we expect $450 million in team and league (money), which is private funding." Thomas noted the task force wants $250M from Rams Owner Stan Kroenke for the roughly $1B stadium, after which the league "will chip in" $200M "from its G4 stadium loan program." An additional $150M would "come through sales" of PSLs. But Peacock said, “We have not had direct discussion with Stan Kroenke about that." He added that getting "the public piece of the money" in place by the fall "was achievable." Peacock: "There won’t be money in an account come the fall, but there certainly should be a clear understanding of sources and how those sources can be released. ... We’re not building a stadium and hoping a team comes, or stays." Peacock said that Rams Exec VP/Football Operations & COO Kevin Demoff "had been involved" in the project. But sources said that the team’s participation "had come only with some arm-twisting" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 4/25). The AP's Salter & Fallstrom noted Peacock and Blitz "declined to discuss specifics" of Friday's 40-minute presentation or "the league's response to the effort to either keep the Rams or attract another team" (AP, 4/24).
TO FAN, OR NOT TO FAN...: In St. Louis, Bernie Miklasz wrote, "There are reasons why it makes sense to buy Rams tickets -- even if you have to hold your nose while completing the transaction." While NFL execs "understand the severity of the mess that Kroenke has created here, a lot of empty seats won't help the pro-STL marketing effort." But a filled Edward Jones Dome stadium "works against" Kroenke when he "tries to make the case for moving" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 4/25).
ENOUGH WITH THE GIMMICKS: The new proposed joint Chargers/Raiders stadium in Carson, along with Manica Architecture President David Manica, were the named the “world’s worst” persons in sports by ESPN’s Keith Olbermann on Friday. The "primary innovation" in the $1.7B stadium's design is a “120-foot tall tower that will produce artificial lightning inside what is basically a big test tube during Chargers games." Olbermann: "Of course, that would make no sense during Raiders game. So the stadium managers would turn off their weather machine and instead the tower would become a giant cauldron of fire in honor of Al Davis. Because the two things you want to have in an arid climate like southern California, where nearly all the water has to be imported and they’re having a multiple-year drought of biblical proportions, are indoor lightning and a giant cauldron of fire." The designers also say the tower "can be converted into a 100-foot tall Lombardi Trophy for when (it) hosts the Super Bowl.” Olbermann added, “Your chances of being hit by Charger lightning in Johnny Carson Stadium are far higher than the Raiders making the Super Bowl in their own stadium in the next 20 years” (“Olbermann,” ESPN2, 4/24).
