A Missouri board approved $15 million in tax credits Tuesday for a new riverfront football stadium in downtown St. Louis, the first piece of an effort by state leaders aimed at either preventing the Rams from moving west or luring another team to the city in its place.
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The team has been edging closer to a move to L.A.in the past several months, with owner Stan Kroenke drawing up a $1.8 billion proposal to build a stadium in Inglewood.
The Dome authority plans to pay for the stadium with $450 million from the NFL, $201 million from bond proceeds from the state and city of St. Louis, $160 million from seat licenses, and the remainder from tax credits.
“The benefits of a new NFL stadium in downtown St. Louis are clear, not only to our metropolitan region but the entire state of Missouri as well”, Dave Peacock, the former Anheuser Busch executive who is the co-head of the stadium task force, said in a statement.
The new plan would use $50 million in tax credits, spread out over three years. The sports authority plans to request another $17.5 million in tax credits next year and the year after, for a total of $50 million. “We appreciate the board’s support as we continue to make meaningful and measurable progress toward keeping the St. Louis Rams here in St. Louis”. The task force hopes to land $100 million in donations. That process remains up in the air because the current proposal still calls for a $250 million investment from an NFL owner plus another $200 million in the form of the NFL’s G4 loan.
Bond extensions also remain part of the plan, as $135 million would come from the state and $66 million from St. Louis city.
Of the 12-member board, only Kinder voted against the tax credits.
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An an artist’s rendering of a proposed NFL stadium sits on an easel before a news conference at the site of the project in a blighted area north of downtown St. Louis in February. The team originally known as the Cleveland Rams moved to Los Angeles in 1946, playing in the LA Coliseum. Both teams are willing to change divisions in order to complete a move to Los Angeles, ESPN reported. The Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers are also seeking a move, and quite aggressively.
