To be fair, in that time you had two years where you broke even (2004, 2006).
Suppose that your attendance has declined in 4 of the past 5 years.
Let's pretend that your lease agreement for the building you play in is at a point of negotiation.
What would you do?
I'm pretty sure that nobody in their right mind would counter a $124 million dollar renovation proposal with an estimated $700 million dollar proposal, regardless of what your current contract says you can do.
It would appear that the St. Louis Rams are absolutely insane and believe that the City of St. Louis and the taxpayers of the State of Missouri should do just that. I think it is safe to say that the Rams have a very inflated perception of their value.
What's a Rams Team Worth?
Last year, Forbes Magazine valued the Rams at $775 million dollars. That is down from 2009 when Forbes valued the team at $929 million. Given the fact that the Rams had another terrible season last year, it would seem reasonable to expect that this value might go unchanged or decline in this year's valuation. And yet, despite their pathetic on field performance, the organization feels it is entitled to a ridiculous renovation project that would cost almost more than what the entire organization is worth.
"But if we don't make them happy, they might leave!" people say.
In fact, the Rams silently threaten that every time the lease is discussed.
Shame on them for doing so.
The Rams were bought and moved into a brand new facility and given a fan base that was eager to adopt them as their own. The fans suffered through some terrible football and paid a high price to watch the pitiful product take the field. When the Super Bowl trophy made its way to the shadow of the Arch, the fans here were ecstatic. When "the best show on turf" faded, the fans continued to support the team. While the numbers may have dropped over time, the overarching support for the team had not.
And here's where we get into the blame game...
The Blame Game - Leaders and Politicians (Option A)
We could blame the current situation on leaders who eagerly accepted a contract with the Rams that has always been laughable in its expectations. There is never going to be a way for an existing stadium to compete legitimately with a brand new facility. The idea of maintaining an existing stadium as a top tier stadium is a total sham. Should the politicians and leaders been a little more discerning way back then? I would say so, but I have the advantage of hindsight and they have plenty of company with them in this approach:
The boondoggle begins when the franchise owner, protected by his anti-trust herald, says to the city where the team plays that unless he gets a new stadium, the franchise will move elsewhere. Terrified about losing a team more popular than any mayor or council member, the city then condemns prime land for the new construction and authorizes the team’s owner to issue municipal bonds to pay for the new arena.
Many new stadiums, like the retractable-roof mausoleum built near Dallas, cost more than $1 billion, figures that equate professional football economics to the oil depletion allowance, if not the Texas Railroad Commission. On average, taxpayers fund 60 percent of new stadium costs. In the last twenty years, the NFL’s take of taxpayer subsidies has amounted to $17 billion.
Bonds for new stadiums are given tax-exempt status, a folly based on the false premise that these new ballparks are “good for local business.” In truth, they bring in little more than sweetheart construction contracts and the revenue from nearby parking lots. Have a look at what Detroit got for the Silverdome. Hint: it was sold at auction for $583,000, after Detroit dropped in about $200 million in present-value dollars.) The real money goes to the team owner, that beacon of urban renewal.
In some cases, local sales taxes are increased so that stadiums can be financed. But that doesn’t mean consumers get to share in skybox revenues, which the owner keeps for himself and his uptown pals. (Source)
It's not that we are any different from other situations, it's just that we are facing it right now, whereas other fans will face it in the future. There is far more value placed on attracting and landing a team then should be monetized in the near term.
The Blame Game - Fans (Option B)
We could blame the fans for not being staunch, blind supporters of the miserable renditions of a team that have taken the field. Have the fans wandered away from the team over time? Yes and to a point, it is reasonable. St. Louis does not have a strong legacy of entrenched NFL support. When the now Arizona Cardinals left the city, the fan base that existed was deeply hurt. When the Rams came to town, many of these fans were eager to accept the team, but cautious in how quickly they might begin naming their children after players or getting the horns tattooed on their craniums.
After all, they'd been down the ugly road of having ownership of the team attempt to fleece the city the fans live and work in, all the while fielding a woeful product. The fans had seen where that road led and were cautious in truly grabbing hold of a team that had come from a different cultural universe. The fans wanted to see that the team was committed to them and not ready to bolt at the first opportunity.
Over the past few years, while the team has languished on the gridiron, the front office has begun pushing out demands on the city. At this point, the fans have endured a lot and had begun to adopt the idea that perhaps this time things would be different. Perhaps this time they could take their children to the game, teach them to love the team and have those children turn into second generation St. Louis Rams fans. Once the whispers of the threat of the team moving crept into the local conversation, the would be generational fans started to pull back. After all, why invest yourself and your family financially and emotionally to something that might not be around in a couple more years? Given the past history and present situation, the fans seem justified in any amount of withdrawal of their support that has happened.
The Blame Game - The St. Louis Rams (Hike!)
The Rams had a lot going for them. They moved east into a new building filled with excited football fans. They struggled to perform well, achieved great success and then continued to sell out games when the times were tough. Through it all, the fans wanted to develop a long term, lifelong relationship with them. That's a pretty good thing to have going for you.
The Rams have the contractual right to demand certain things and request others. The Rams have the ability to choose what they will and will not accept as acceptable renovations for maintaining the Edward Jones Dome, according to what their contract allows. But here's the thing that they do not seem to understand: The fans don't like when you start to act like you don't care and might move on as soon as possible. When that appears to be the mindset of the organization, the fans will instantly begin to move on to other interests.
Perhaps you have forgotten that football is not the only sport enjoyed in St. Louis. Maybe you forgot that while you have been sucking the air out of the building with your accumulation of losses, there is a sports team that has been finding a lot of success just down the road. St. Louis has a very deep history of Cardinals baseball. Generations have grown up watching the team take the field. We've watched players move on and cheered them when they return. We have watched players retire and we have incorporated them into the DNA of the organization. The St. Louis Cardinals are so entrenched in the local identity that it is impossible to think of them not playing in this city.
That is not the case with the St. Louis Rams. Not yet. You haven't proven that you will choose to stay around. You have not shown that you are committed to this city and these fans. You have not given us the opportunity to create the generational camaraderie that comes from decades of watching a team together. You've had your ups and you've had your downs, but I don't think that is why the fans are so upset with you.
I think the fans are getting pissed because you are marching down a road that seem all too familiar. Your walking a line that we watched get drawn in the sand all the way to Arizona once before. We have seen this act and we don't want to get to the end of the scene and be left holding the financial and emotional baggage that inevitably stays behind.
There's Still Time (An Open Letter tot he Rams)
Dear St. Louis Rams,
We want you to know that while we find your over inflated valuation of yourself to be quite laughable, we understand it's hard to have a good self-image when you are constantly getting beaten. We know that it can be tough when other teams that have been around a lot longer than you are building fancy new stadiums that might be able to distract from the horrible product taking the field.
We understand that the NFL is a very large business and that these sorts of things happen. We get it.
But we would like for you to understand this: We are your paycheck. We are the reason you get to play a game for a living. We enjoy watching the sport in person and enjoy having a team here locally, but we have limits, as everyone does. We will not be strung out over the next 3 years as you maneuver your way to find a new place to play. We will not invest ourselves mentally or physically in a team that shows no desire to remain in the city that saved it, raised it and nurtured it along. We have other teams that have shown the desire to stay in St. Louis, that are worthy of our attentions.
You have a choice. You can decided to be happy with where you are at and begin attracting the fan base back to you, or you can make preposterous demands and continue to drive your fan base farther from you as you prepare to leave.
We've got better things to do than dance around with you off the field while other teams dance around you on the field. We'd like for you to be our team, but it's really difficult to pursue that when you act like you don't want to be our team. Commit to us and we will commit to you. Just know that it is going to take some time.
Sincerely,
The Fans
No comments:
Post a Comment