With rumors picking up steam the last few months that the St. Louis Rams are considering a jump to Los Angeles, the country's #1 media market, their new riverfront stadium location profiled in Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback article this morning will come as a bit of a surprise to many.
The new stadium, said to cost about $1 billion, will seat around 64,000 and will sit on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River. The pictures available in King's MMQB article is the first time that anyone outside the NFL or the committee tabbed with keeping the Rams in St. Louis have seen the renderings.
King points out that Missouri Governor Jay Nixon already has an agreement in place with a construction company to work around the clock in three eight hour shifts per day, every day for 24 months to get the stadium done. It may be a bit lofty, but if work begins in August, the stadium could be ready for a 2017 grand opening.
Detailed market studies have already been launched in St. Louis to feel out the market for ticket sales, ticket prices, and how many premium and box seats are expected to sell, and those same studies will be done in the Oakland and San Diego markets as well, as the NFL works to gather all available information.
It's pretty obvious now that St. Louis seems determined to keep the Rams in The Lou, but in the NFL, money is king and the LA market is very appealing, so it will be interesting to see how this one plays out.
See more pictures, and get a full run down on the situation in King's MMQB article, which is a weekly must-read for football fans.