Today is the day for the St. Louis Rams to say whether they approve of the $124 million proposal to improve the Edward Jones Dome, the first in a series of deadlines as the team and St. Louis negotiate over the future of the franchise in the city.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the March 1 deadline is for the Rams to say whether they agree with the plan from the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission to upgrade the stadium, as part of the lease requirement that the Rams have a “first tier” stadium to play in by 2015. If the Rams agree, the renovation plan can begin.
But if the Rams don’t like the plan, they have until May 1 to come up with their own plan. If the team and the Convention and Visitors Commission haven’t reached an agreement by June 15, they will go into arbitration.
All of this comes at a time when the team and the city are clearly not seeing eye to eye. After the NFL and the team announced that the Rams would start playing one “home” game a year in London, the Convention and Visitors Commission said that would violate the Rams’ lease. Although they were able to reach an agreement for the Rams’ 2012 game in London against the Patriots, it remains to be seen what happens to the long-term plan for the Rams to play seven games in St. Louis and one game in London every year.
And for that matter, it remains to be seen whether the Rams will be playing any games in St. Louis in the years ahead.