St. Louis Rams: "London Bridge" Now Officially Open for Rams to Host Patriots

The St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission agreed to amend the lease between themselves and the St. Louis Rams, officially allowing the Rams to play a "home" game in London versus the New England Patriots in 2012 at Wembley Stadium on October 28.  

Just as Fergie sang a few years ago in her pop hit "London Bridge," the CVC gave the formal go-ahead for the Rams to play oversees and drive into Wembley Stadium on the "London Bridge" that the famous European city and the NFL laid out for them.

The CVC did not, however, agree to the proposed 2013 and 2014 London "home" games, at least not yet. The CVC retained those games, and they are expected to serve as bargaining chips in the ongoing lease negotiations with the Rams.  

As most of you know, the Rams could theoretically leave St. Louis following the 2014 season if an agreement between themselves and the CVC is not reached by the end of this year. Another potential alternative would be to remain in the Gateway City on a year to year lease, like the San Diego Chargers. 

When addressing the 2012 London game and the notion that the CVC had lost a bargaining chip, CVC President Kathleen "Kitty" Ratcliffe said "it's only one year," emphasizing that the 2013 and 2014 games have not been agreed to yet. 

Some Rams fans feel that losing one "home" game away is more than enough and are asking, in their own way, "how come every time I turn around that London, London bridge wanna go down?"

It does seem like a continuing welcome sign has been put up for the Rams to continue to play annually in London and a figurative bridge for the Rams to walk across is open (at least through 2014).

On the other hand, it is only "one year" for now, and could indeed be a mutually beneficial agreement (for the Rams and CVC) when looking at the big picture.

In the immediacy, losing this game it is not pleasurable to St. Louis Rams fans nor beneficial to many downtown businesses, but, in the long-term, many of those same businesses may reap more than they will have lost. 

The amended lease gives the CVC the flexibility to add events at the Edward Jones Dome on two weekends per month during the football season in 2013, 2014 and 2015 (whereas only one was allowed before).

After 2015 and through 2025 (assuming an agreement to the lease is ultimately reached), the new arrangement gives the CVC the ability to book the Dome on three total additional weekends in total from August through December while reverting back to operating on the foundation of the one weekend per month setup that has been in place, according to Ratcliffe from this report.

The time of year that the NFL regular season preseason and regular season occurs (August through December) is a very busy time for the convention business, according to Ratcliffe in this report from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 

"

The season has some big months, especially October.  It's a prime convention month for most cities.

"

Although I agree with the vast majority of St. Louis fans who at least partially dislike some aspects of the 2012 London "home" game or even those who completely hate it altogether, it indeed can serve to expose St. Louis (and the Rams) to an international audience, as Ratcliffe conceded in an interview with Charles Jaco of St. Louis' KPLR 11:

"

Well, I think it's really good for the Rams.  They get to play a very high profile event which will have international coverage so it elevates them.  

For us, it changes the lease for the remainder of the lease (2025) in such a way that we can book additional business for this community and fill hotel rooms and restaurants and keep taxi cab drivers working and everything else.  So, overall its' a really good deal for everybody. 

"

Ratcliffe also said  (according to a press release from explorestlouis.com) that: 

"

I am delighted that we are able to find a mutually beneficial solution to the Rams’ desire to play a regular season home game in London.

St. Louisians will benefit from the arrangements for additional access to the Edward Jones Dome for non-football events which will generate economic activity for hospitality industry businesses for years to come.

As stewards of the public trust placed with the City and the County of St. Louis, it was essential that the agreement provide economic benefit to the region.

"

An article from the St. Louis Business Journal by Amri Kurtovic shares that Ratcliffe said (while not directly quoting Ratcliffe) the following: 

"

The additional booking dates will be a significant boost to the convention business downtown. The type of conventions that require use of the Edward Jones Dome typically have 10,000 attendants or more.   A large convention that uses the Edward Jones Dome can usually bring about $10 million in direct spending.

"

According to this from kmov.com, the CVC is already looking into potentially adding an event at the EJD on the day the Rams would have hosted the Patriots there.

In exchange for the previously mentioned 2012 London "home" game, the Rams will pay all seasonal hires (such as ushers and ticket takers) the same wages they would have made had the Rams played the Patriots at the EJD.

According to this, it also requires the Rams to host an event similar to the St. Louis Cardinals winter warm up before the opening of the 2012 NFL season.  

As for the Rams official response, Vice President of Football Operations and Chief Operating Officer Kevin Demoff stated that:

"

We are pleased that we were able to reach an agreement with the CVC.  We believe playing a game in London will serve as a powerful tool to build our fan base regionally, nationally and globally.

This agreement gives the CVC more powerful tools to help entice major events to St. Louis, which parallels our strategy of elevating St. Louis on a global stage.

"

All in all, it appears that both the Rams and CVC are pleased with the outcome here.  Whether we like losing the game or not, it is very important that both parties (Rams/CVC) are able to work together and compromise on certain issues.

Although most of us, again, dislike losing a home game to London, it is nonetheless a good sign (in looking at the bigger picture of the lease negotiations) that the Rams and CVC were able to come to an amicable resolution that both parties agree is beneficial. 

That is important going forward.  

As Charles Jaco reported in his video piece linked above, the CVC has been "very pleased with the tone and tenor of these negotiations about the London games."  Jaco says the CVC has been impressed with how professional the Rams were amidst the London discussions. 

Several members of the CVC have worked cooperatively on events with the Rams away from the Edward Jones Dome, such as in this fundraiser for the March of Dimes where Bob O'Loughlin (CVC chairman and lead negotiator regarding the Rams/CVC lease) and commissioner Kim Tucci played a considerable role. 

In addition to O'Loughin and Tucci participating in this event, it was a March of Dimes function.  Another member of the CVC's board of commissioners, Mary Elisabeth Grimes, is the State Director of the Greater Missouri Chapter March of Dimes.

Speaking of O'Loughlin, he is currently working hand in hand with Rams owner Stan Kroenke's THF Realty in a joint effort to secure St. Louis' Union Station.

O'Loughlin is the chairman and CEO of Lodging Hospitality Management.  It appears that four of the other 10 commissioners are also in the hospitality industry (Todd George, David Robert, Joe Ruggeri and James Smith.

What does that all mean?  Well, not necessarily anything.  However, it is interesting, regardless, and we can all deduct what we choose from that, if anything. 

What I am deducting right now is a spirit of cooperation, forward-thinking and a solid working relationship between the Rams and CVC that can only bode well for the city/region and St. Louis fans everywhere, even with the London game (which most of us do not approve of) being formally agreed to. 

As many of you know I (and a much more prominent individual than myself) believe the Rams will remain in St. Louis long-term, as I reported here. 

In case you missed the details of the CVC's initial proposal, feel free to scan this. 

Shane Gray covers the St. Louis Rams year-round. You are encouraged to check out the rest of his work here and to follow him on Twitter.