State approves $50 million for proposed NFL stadium

An an artist’s rendering of a proposed NFL stadium sits on an easel before a news conference at the site of the project in a blighted area north of downtown St. Louis in February.

The Missouri Development Finance Board is set to vote Tuesday on $15 million in tax credits for the proposed riverfront football stadium in St. Louis. Besides the $15 million this year, the Dome Authority is requesting $17.5 million in tax credits next year and also in 2017. He presented his proposal to owners last week. State senator Rob Schaaf recently sent a letter to Gov. Jay Nixon promising to fillibuster “any appropriations bill” that includes stadium funding.

The benefits of a new NFL stadium in downtown St. Louis are clear, not only to our metropolitan region but the entire state of Missouri as well.

But there are still many trying to keep the Rams in St. Louis. The board’s executive director, Bob Miserez, has recommended approval of this year’s request, the first of $50 million over three years.

The state would need to issue $135 million in bonds under that plan, along with $66 million in bonds from St. Louis and a total of $187 million in tax credits and other state and local incentives.

There are rumors that the St. Louis Rams have already tipped their hand about plans to move.

“This proposal is moving forward without a single vote by a public body accountable to voters: Not the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, not the St. Louis County Council, not the Missouri General Assembly”, Kinder said.

“It’s still something for us to have in the back of our minds as we consider whether we vote in a month or so on this proposal for these credits”, Kinder said. The planned stadium comes with a price tag of almost a billion dollars.

Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon and the Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority want to build a new stadium along the Mississippi River to counter the Rams’ possible relocation to Los Angeles. Both teams are willing to change divisions in order to complete a move to Los Angeles, ESPN reported.

Meanwhile, current Raiders owner Mark Davis and San Diego Chargers owner Dean Spanos have proposed building a joint stadium project in Carson, about 17 miles south of downtown L.A.