The city of St. Louis is making strides in trying to keep its football team, as National Car Rental has agreed to name a prospective St. Louis football stadium for 20 years and $158 million, according to Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Daily. While this news would seem great for the city and football fans, taxpayers would reportedly pay $215 million more than previously thought for a new stadium, according to Ray Hartmann of St. Louis Magazine.
This news comes at the same time NFL owners are meeting in New York City to decide which teams will be able to relocate to Los Angeles. One of the leading team owners pushing for his organization's move is Stan Kroenke of the Rams.
Kroenke is reportedly willing to pay for his own stadium in Los Angeles, and doesn't want to be held accountable to taxpayers for the stadium in St. Louis, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
It seems interesting that this information comes to light at the same time NFL owners are discussing the possibility of the Rams moving to Los Angeles. If the extra $215 million cost to taxpayers halts the production of the stadium in St. Louis, Kroenke will likely be getting closer to his plan of moving the Rams back to Los Angeles.
It will be interesting to see how this new information impacts the NFL meetings. The St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers all seem to be vying for a spot in Los Angeles, but it is still unknown who will make the move.
