Another thing about the money is this, the Rams are valued at around 900 million dollars, way down at the bottom of the league. A move to LA instantly makes the value of the Rams go up by 100s of millions of dollars, not to mention new merchandise sales, etc. It could almost pay for the Stadium itself. And also, the first few seasons in LA would have massive attendance, at much higher ticket prices than St. Louis is paying, just because it's something they have been hungry for. So even in the short term, Stan would make a lot more money. I don't think he's just buying this land as a bargaining chip.[/quotef
I have to disagree with this statement HE WITH HORNS.
Yes, a move might increase the value of the franchise, but this fails to look at the big picture. Its all about NET income. The value of the team only means something if you are going to sell the team. And if you look at Kroenke's track record, he does not sell his teams. He owns them. So increasing the value of the franchise does not do much and certainly will not cover the cost of a billion dollar stadium in LA.
The one thing we do not know is how much the Rams made last year. That is because this information is withheld from the general public. The only team that has to make that public is the GB Packers because they are technically owned by the people.
The Packers are only in the middle of the pack when it comes to their value (1.16 billion...good enough for 18th in the NFL), but last year from operations alone their revenue was at $308 mill but they had $253 mill in expenses for a net of around $55 mill.
Secondly, the attendance would increase, but you are forgetting about the shared revenue that goes on in the NFL. 60% of ticket sales are put into the "shared pot" (not luxury boxes). That is how small market teams compete in the NFL. If your point was the case only large market cities would have teams. Teams would simply build where there were more people.
You are also not looking at overhead, and this is quite possibly what keeps the Rams in STL for some time. Kroenke currently has one of the kindest deals in all of the NFL. He pays 250K to rent the dome from the CVC. This includes staffing the dome, security, food and beverage operations, etc. While people like Jerry Jones have a billion dollar facility have to pay thousands upon thousands to staff the place and cover operations costs. Yes the cowboys may be worth the most, but their overhead is astronomical! This is why Jerry often complains about the revenue sharing etc. Because these small market teams are making it off just fine while he has the biggest stadium and most well recognized team but has to share some of it.
So even though the Rams are not pulling in the huge crowds, by the time you look at and add up the revenue sharing, Stan's lack of overhead per game, the TV contracts (also shared and the big money maker), Stan is rolling along just fine. That's why I do not understand some of these articles and posts as they fail to mention the REAL facts.
Stan is smart. He had first dibs to buy some land and very, very, valuable land at that. It was a no brainer for him. He is a real estate guy and this land puts him in position to do many things. But one thing it does not do is give him enough space to house tons of parking along with a state of the art facility. And that is where NFL stadiums make money.
I went to the Dallas vs. Rams game this year and shelled out $90 for parking......FOR ONE SPOT!
To put things into perspective Stan bought 60 Acres. Which I believe is landlocked. Cowboys Stadium alone covers 73 total acres. While the overall site is comprised of 140 acres (parking $$$$$). This is more than twice the size of Stan's recent purchase.
Jerry gets to keep all of that, no sharing there. But in Stl. I only pay $25 per game and I am much closer. But Stan gets none of that due to the leasing agreement he has.
So if Stan can put some pressure on the CVC (which he is) and get a deal like he currently has, plus parking, and land to develop he will be swimming in money from the NET income. This is what Stan loves....The art of the deal. He is a master of laying low and playing his cards close to him and most importantly putting pressure on those who are in a poor position. And that is what the city of St. Louis is in....a bad spot.
Stan wants a new stadium so he can take advantage of that parking and development that he has had so much success at. And this 60 acres does not give him the room to do that. Now if Stan was not a real estate devloper with more acres to his name than most of us can count, then this would be odd.
But if you step back and look, it really isn't that wierd of a transaction. And most importantly, there really isn't that much more money in LA.
