[REUTERS] The National Football League's Rams left behind more than bitterness when the team ditched St. Louis for Los Angeles last month - it left a stadium saddled with about $144 million in debt and maintenance costs.
When the Baltimore Colts left it was in the dead of night, after assuring the city they were staying. I don't know what the Saint Louis Browns did when they left to become the Baltimore Orioles. Probably about the same thing the Los Angeles Rams did when they moved to St. Louis.
Taxpayers will now shoulder the remaining payments for the Edward Jones Dome with only the help of revenue from tractor pulls, volleyball tournaments, concerts and the like.
That's why we have taxpayers, isn't it?
St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed has asked the NFL to help pay off the stadium, but so far has gotten no response.
This is known in trade circles as "the finger."
"The fans are being left holding the bag," Reed said. "I think they should factor that into the total cost of the move."
"But... But... My season ticket!"
The leftover debt and maintenance costs are another example of the NFL's negotiating prowess with many cities, sports economists said, and also reflects larger problems with the deal St. Louis struck with the Rams.
Tell it to the Brooklyn Dodgers. |