New: Latest on Kroenke, Rams and NFL in STL

[STL-Rams]

I appreciate the thread being open and as to Shane I have always enjoyed his insights and appreciate everything he brings to the table. Shane is a straight shooter and on this subject matter it's quite refreshing. That being posted I'm very concerned for the Gateway City and just have a feeling that Kroenke truly wants the team to be in Los Angeles because he loves chasing the deal and this would be something amazing.

This is so difficult because it hampers the franchise in so many ways and regardless of what is reported or tweeted the fans of St. Louis have been amazing and it has not been easy. Hell, it's been difficult to root for this team for die hard fans like us winning cures everything and it does not matter if your're in Cleveland, Los Angeles or St. Louis you need to win more than you lose and the Rams have not done a very good job of this.

In the end I just want what is best for the team, but this cloud hanging over their head never goes away and IMO won't be solved with another move. I grew up rooting for the Los Angeles Rams and loved California when I was there rooting with the melon heads and all history associated with Los Angeles, but I have also grown so fond of the Gateway City and loved every time I had the honor to visit the great city.

I just want this to be over I want there to be a final solution and to be able to just root for my team come hell or high water and right now I'm drowning.

Thank you, Coach. Sincerely appreciate that.

 

[Athos]

Stan is utilizing some sort of silent bully pulpit from what I can tell.

He either wants autonomy in a personally owned stadium, or come out with no losses by a fully, publicly funded stadium.

Smart business or not, he's still coming across as quite the weasel.

 

[STL-Rams]

We gotta keep you outta the Sportsbook.

That's Shane right there sporting the Blue and White throwback........

 

[STL-Rams]

Stan is utilizing some sort of silent bully pulpit from what I can tell.

He either wants autonomy in a personally owned stadium, or come out with no losses by a fully, publicly funded stadium.

Smart business or not, he's still coming across as quite the weasel.

Can't argue with how he's coming across at all.

 

[STL-Rams]

Last I heard, Chargers' owner Dean Spanos says he believes he has the nine votes to prevent Kroenke from moving (if that's what he intends to do). I heard a lot of stuff about Kroenke doing whatever he wants anyway, even without league approval, but I have a hard time believing he can just go rogue like that.

Spanos does believe he has at least nine.... I agree with you on the going rogue idea. That would set a precedent for chaos from this point on.

 

[STL-Rams]

Unless Kroenke Has went bat crap crazy, he has a plan and approval at some level to develop the LA market. He's gonna sink a lot of his own cashola into this and not for it to sit empty.
Either he's got another team to fill it, the Rams or a expansion team. How ever he does it he's gonna make a buck of it cause that's what he does.
It's not about the butt's in the seats, it's about market share, TV audience and merchandise.

If it's a power play, hats off to him. Thats a bold move.

He won't go forward without a solid plan -- Rams or otherwise. Agree with you there.

 

[STL-Rams]

Unless I'm mistaken all owners split the TV profits evenly. So even if he was in that market, he wouldn't make more from that. Also, the NFL won't make any more money with him there based on TV market because that market already shows NFL games.

Yes, they are splite evenly. TV contracts are set for several more years.

 

[LetsGoRams]

A Little more on Peacock for those wondering where he came from.

If you think you’re seeing Dave Peacock’s name everywhere these days, you’re not mistaken.

Two years after stepping down as president of Anheuser-Busch, the 45-year-old St. Louis native has raised more than $100 million for the city’s Gateway Arch grounds redevelopment project. As chairman of the St. Louis Sports Commission, he convinced lawmakers to pass $3 million in tax credits to improve St. Louis’ chances of hosting amateur sporting events. He’s also working behind the scenes to keep the Rams in St. Louis and he’s on the national advisory board for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Ohio. Locally, he has a seat on the boards of the United Way, CityArchRiver 2015, Cardinal Glennon Foundation, Boy Scouts, Ministries@Work, Ronnoco Coffee and Schnuck Markets. Oh, and he’s the local franchisee for the smoothie chain Jamba Juice and a part owner at a gym in Kirkwood that caters to pro athletes.

“If it’s a big impact organization or initiative,Dave Peacock is basically going to be involved,” said Jim Weddle, managing partner at Edward Jones and president of the board of trustees at the United Way of Greater St. Louis.

Known for bridging the gap between A-B’s old and new regimes after its takeover by Belgian brewer InBev, Peacock has become a one-man civic booster, a closer who’s called to get deals done.

He declined to be interviewed, saying he’d rather talk about issues than himself.

“Dave’s a guy you want on the team if you’re tackling something big and important,” Weddle said. “He’s ‘can do,’ highly organized and very well informed.”

A-B’s CACHÉ

The Webster Groves native was a second-generation Anheuser-Busch employee when he joined the brewer in 1992 in the media department. He quickly rose through the ranks and was vice president of marketing before being tapped to lead A-B’s North American operations in 2008. Peacock made a name for himself as he moved up at the historic brewery and that recognition continued in the community after he stepped down as president in January 2012.

The brewery is not his only calling card, said Walter Metcalfe, a Bryan Cave attorney and chairman of CityArchRiver. “People know that his goals are for St. Louis.”

John Mozeliak, general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals and a friend of Peacock’s, said he is “a connector.”

“People that get to that high profile of a position end up gaining access that others might, but I think the key point of this is what you do after that,” he said. “He has the ability to not only bring people together, but bring the right people together.”

MARKETING CHOPS

After resigning his post at A-B, Peacock barely missed a beat before ramping up his civic engagements.

He joined the board of CityArchRiver in early February 2012 and has since raised more than $100 million toward a $250 million goal. “I let him be retired for two weeks,” Metcalfe said.

Where Metcalfe thrives at corralling regulatory agencies and government bodies to the table, Peacock is skilled at understanding the consumer perspective. “He’s thinking about the visitor experience,” Metcalfe said. Other board members said that’s an outgrowth of Peacock’s work at A-B and his extensive marketing talent. David Kemper, chairman and CEO of Commerce Bancshares Inc., who sits on the CityArchRiver board, said Peacock brings “that A-B panache of how you market a product” to the project.

To get out the word about CityArchRiver, Peacock and Carolyn Kindle, executive director of the Enterprise Holdings Foundation, who also sits on the board, have had key suggestions, like installing videos on screens at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and showing ads at movie theaters. “Dave’s remarkable at seeing how to connect those dots,” Metcalfe said.

RAISING FUNDS

A longtime supporter of the United Way, Peacock has become point person for making calls to high-impact contacts “that drive the success of the campaign,” Weddle said. This year’s campaign, chaired by Cheri and Ron Fromm, chairman of Brown Shoe Co., raised more than $72.25 million.

As head of a small nonprofit, the Foundation for Fighting Blindness, Jason Morrisexperienced Peacock’s impact firsthand. Introduced to Morris by Mozeliak, Peacock was the honoree at FFB’s annual dinner in 2012 along with Suddenlink’s Jerry Kent.

The combination of names on the dais boosted the dinner’s fundraising to $485,000, more than double the $177,000 raised a year earlier. Peacock “was integral in helping us raise as much money as we had ever raised,” Morris said. Peacock remained heavily involved, he said, and is an honorary chair for next year’s dinner in February.

SPORTS CONNECTIONS

For Peacock, sports and business run deep.

A football player at Webster Groves High School, he aspired to write for Sports Illustratedand studied journalism and marketing at the University of Kansas. He works out regularly and is a part owner at the Central Institute for Human Performance in Kirkwood, which caters to pro athletes like retired hockey players Chris Pronger and Keith Tkachuk, Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday and former Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter.

Peacock, who relies more on a smartphone than an actual office, has also been known to take meetings in a second-floor conference room above the gym.

Certainly at Anheuser-Busch, sports and beer went hand in hand. The brewery was among the top three supporters of the St. Louis Sports Commission over the years, said commission President Frank Viverito, who got to know Peacock through the brewery and recruited him to chair the commission in early 2012.

This past spring, Peacock flexed his political muscle in Jefferson City to convince lawmakers to pass $3 million in tax credits to allow Missouri to better compete against other markets when trying to attract sporting events. “I saw it as my obligation to help those guys get this bill passed because it really sets us up in the long term to be competitive,” he told the Business Journal at the time.

Viverito said Peacock’s connections are unmatched.

“Dave can pick up the phone and call the president of ESPN or the commissioner of the NFL or MLB or the CEO of any Civic Progress company in St. Louis,” he said. “In the halls of the Capitol, most people are there going up to legislators and introducing themselves,” he said. “Well, we had legislators coming up to us and introducing themselves to Dave.”

Viverito said Peacock helped to shape the commission’s 30 bids to host NCAAchampionships. Just last week, the NCAA awarded the Division I wrestling championships to St. Louis in 2015 and 2017. The city also will host the women’s gymnastic championships in 2017 and 2018, Division II wrestling in 2015, women’s bowling in 2015 and 2018, and women’s hockey in 2017.

On the pro sports side, Peacock is said to be part of negotiations to keep the Rams in St. Louis.

He has the ear of Gov. Jay Nixon, who took over negotiations with Rams owner Stan Kroenke after the failure of last year’s arbitration between the Rams, the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission, which manages the Dome, and the stadium authority.

Mozeliak said Peacock’s time at A-B gave him a strong grasp of the financial decisions that professional sports teams make. Tom Stillman, CEO of Summit Distributing and co-owner of the St. Louis Blues, said Peacock is somebody who can “bridge gaps” during negotiations because he understands both sides.

“He has taken on some big, big projects,” said Stillman, who sits on the board of CityArchRiver with Peacock. “And he really keeps at ‘em.”

ENTREPRENEURIAL STREAK

In January, Peacock assembled an investor group — including sportscaster Joe Buck and former Saint Louis University basketball star Scott Highmark — to bring 15 Jamba Juice locations to Missouri and Kansas. The first location opened Oct. 2 at the West County Center. While Peacock hasn’t disclosed his investment, the chain’s typical investment range is $353,100 to $639,800 per location.

Peacock is also a member of the investment committee of venture firm Cultivation Capital, with $100 million under management. And he’s an operating partner of Michigan-based private equity firm Huron Capital Partners, which has raised $1.1 billion since 1999. In 2012, Huron acquired St. Louis-based Ronnoco Coffee and set out to double the size of the $60 million company in the next few years.

In April, Peacock joined Ronnoco’s board and he’s an investor in the company, said CEOScott Meader. “He’s got the best Rolodex in St. Louis,” Meader said.

And the former beer exec is quick to make a call, Meader said.

Last year, when the CORTEX research park in midtown St. Louis received approval from the St. Louis Tax Increment Financing Commission, Ronnoco board members were bewildered to see language pertaining to eminent domain in the public documents, since the company’s plant is adjacent to the CORTEX district.

Meader said Peacock stepped out of the meeting, phoned the mayor’s office and returned with the answer that Ronnoco’s property would be untouched. The call “did not reverse the course of destiny,” Meader stressed, but allayed the board’s anxiety and saved the trouble and expense of hiring lawyers.

Six months ago, Schnuck Markets Inc. also tapped Peacock to join its advisory board. President and COO Todd Schnuck said he was interested in mining Peacock’s knowledge not only of the beverage industry but also consumer purchasing.

He said Peacock also helped Schnucks re-focus after this spring’s data breach impacting an estimated 2.4 million customers.

“When you’re dealing with an unusual situation like that, when you can get people to provide perspective on a less emotional basis, it really helps put things in perspective and gives you a great opportunity to really focus on the business,” Schnuck said.

DRIVING BUSINESS

A common thread is Peacock’s focus on spurring growth in the region, which he treats like a full-time job.

Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, director of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, said that a year into her tenure, she received a call from Peacock, inquiring how the business community could help improve the airport.

Now, they meet regularly. Peacock plans to bring one of his Jamba Juice locations to Lambert, and he made the introductions that resulted in a recently announced Magic Houseoutpost planned for Lambert, which he’s also helping to fund.

Peacock also has championed Hamm-Niebruegge’s effort to bring cargo planes to Lambert. “He has a lot of different people around the world that he has connections with,” she said. “Having people with that kind of global connectivity (who can say) if you’ve got five minutes can you listen to this person. That kind of stuff is invaluable.”


http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/...ave-peacock-the-go-to-dealmaker.html?page=all

Damn. I knew Peacock was an influential guy, but color me impressed.

Too bad he can't own the Rams. Maybe he'll put another investor group together and buy them!

 

[STL-Rams]

The league is media driven. It's people on couches. If they can get more viewer ship then bigger TV contracts. He won't make more money, but the league will so his share will be bigger.
Why don't they put a team in Lincoln Nebraska? ?
I have no idea why he wants to move. he plays in ST. Louis for free basically. after a couple years won't sell anymore tickets than here.

He has a plan or it's a bluff. Either way it's interesting.

Very interesting

 

[LetsGoRams]

Thank you to PrimeTime and other mods for allowing this discussion. This isn't Rams Talk and the folks on here can have a good discussion without the dung-throwing you see on that site.... so again, thank you.

If Spanos does have the 9 votes to block - is it even a possibility at all of him going rogue? At that point, he'd have the other owners and the league fuming and doubt it'd be a good situation for ol' Stan to be in. Am I missing something?

 

[Rmfnlt]

Damn. I knew Peacock was an influential guy, but color me impressed.

Too bad he can't own the Rams. Maybe he'll put another investor group together and buy them!

Actually, that was but one of the many, many theories I've read... that Kroenke could sell the Rams to Peacock!

 

[ChrisW]

Damn. I knew Peacock was an influential guy, but color me impressed.

Too bad he can't own the Rams. Maybe he'll put another investor group together and buy them!

It's an STL business journal, so somethings are probably swayed to the locals, but the #s are impressive either way.

 

[ChrisW]

Actually, that was but one of the many, many theories I've read... that Kroenke could sell the Rams to Peacock!

I don't think he could afford it, but he would be the perfect guy to spearhead an ownership group to take over.

 

[fearsomefour]

Nice read, Shane.

If it does turn out that Kroenke is doing all of this to get the ultimate leverage and he wins (STL builds a really nice stadium), don't you think he'll have a lot of damage control to deal with?

I don't think most owners care much about that stuff. He is a business man with a wealth of experience dealing with team ownership. He is going to run his team how he sees fit. When we are talking billions of dollars I don't think booed from Joe Sixpack matters at all.
To me this is a play by a smart guy who has, at least in theory flipped the leverage....either way he will get something close to what he wants.

 

[fearsomefour]

Spanos does believe he has at least nine.... I agree with you on the going rogue idea. That would set a precedent for chaos from this point on.

It is absurd San Diego is part of the same territory. If the NFL wants a team there he will get overrider, paid off or whatever....talk about a dbag owner, Spanos is it.

 

[Rmfnlt]

I don't think most owners care much about that stuff. He is a business man with a wealth of experience dealing with team ownership. He is going to run his team how he sees fit. When we are talking billions of dollars I don't think booed from Joe Sixpack matters at all.
To me this is a play by a smart guy who has, at least in theory flipped the leverage....either way he will get something close to what he wants.

Well, you could certainly be right... depends on how emotional STL Rams fans get and how far they are willing to take their emotions.

Would a large percentage sell their tickets?
Would they stop tuning in on Sundays?
Would they stop buying merchandise?

Nobody knows right now... but, depending on how bitter things get, it's possible. I think people, as a general rule, don't like being played like chess pieces.

Like Shane said, damage? Yes
Irrepairable? No.

 

[Boffo97]

ANYTHING THAT PUTS STL AGAINST LA IS NOT GOING TO BE ALLOWED.

So, LA vs. STL IS still allowed then... :fighting:

 

[fearsomefour]

Well, you could certainly be right... depends on how emotional STL Rams fans get and how far they are willing to take their emotions.

Would a large percentage sell their tickets?
Would they stop tuning in on Sundays?
Would they stop buying merchandise?

Nobody knows right now... but, depending on how bitter things get, it's possible. I think people, as a general rule, don't like being played like chess pieces.

Like Shane said, damage? Yes
Irrepairable? No.

Agreed people don't like it but owners and fans are playing different games. History has shown us that it really doesn't matter, fans will back, tune in ect.
In particular in the NFL where ticket sales are near the bottom of how owners make money.

 

[Rmfnlt]

Agreed people don't like it but owners and fans are playing different games. History has shown us that it really doesn't matter, fans will back, tune in ect.

You're probably right... consider strikes, etc.

 

[beej]

Well, you could certainly be right... depends on how emotional STL Rams fans get and how far they are willing to take their emotions.

Would a large percentage sell their tickets?
Would they stop tuning in on Sundays?
Would they stop buying merchandise?

Nobody knows right now... but, depending on how bitter things get, it's possible. I think people, as a general rule, don't like being played like chess pieces.

Like Shane said, damage? Yes
Irrepairable? No.

Do the obvious thing and the obvious will happen. If STL sells out these last 8 games it will have everybody's attention.