Bernie: Nixon takes the first step to keep Rams

Nixon takes the first step to keep Rams
• Bernie Miklasz

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bernie-miklasz/nixon-takes-the-first-step-to-keep-rams/article_73bd4fc8-2174-50e2-9635-ae6722079dd0.html

Clear of the mid-term elections, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon on Wednesday launched the initiative to keep the Rams in St. Louis.

Nixon has put former Anheuser-Busch president Dave Peacock and prominent St. Louis attorney Bob Blitz in charge of a complicated, thorny mission. They’ll have to formulate a legitimate plan for a new stadium and then sell that plan to the public. And the politicians that control public dollars.

That makes for a long mountain to climb before a new open-air football stadium becomes a reality in St. Louis.

There’s a long way to go here, so Wednesday’s announcement doesn’t mean the Rams are staying in St. Louis forever and a day. To jump to that conclusion would be just as foolish as assuming the team is moving to Los Angeles.

Nixon didn’t divulge much Wednesday. He wants to keep the Rams here. He wants St. Louis to remain an NFL city. He believes the Rams are an important presence in the community. He has a good relationship with Rams owner Stan Kroenke. Peacock and Blitz are the ideal leaders for this assignment. Nixon emphasized variations of those themes in his media conference call.

Few specifics were offered by the Governor, which is to be expected at this early stage. Nixon finessed away a question about a potential stadium location and responded to a question on funding by saying it would a partnership. Nixon was referring to the NFL venues that have been built on the combined investment made by the team owner, the NFL stadium-loan pool, and the local government/entities.

The details will come out in the wash later.

And resistance — and a spirited public debate — will undoubtedly follow.

The purpose of Nixon’s conference call wasn’t to unveil a stadium plan; that will happen fairly soon.

Wednesday’s business was reserved for the simple but necessary matter of rolling out the names of Peacock and Blitz to establish the leadership on the project.

That’s all we know — officially — right now.

But Peacock has been working unofficially on this difficult quest for quite some time, and I believe the save-the-Rams project is further along than what we’re being told.

Nixon got it right in tabbing Peacock, who has excellent NFL connections through his years as leading marketing efforts and cutting massively lucrative sponsorship deals with the league.

Peacock has a positive longstanding working relationship with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. I don’t believe it’s a stretch to say they are friends; Goodell conveyed that sentiment to me in a dinner conversation about a year and a half ago. Peacock is no stranger to Goodell and league executives. He’s pretty wired in. Peacock was asked to serve on the Pro Football Hall of Fame advisory board.

Peacock also has friends and associates in high places in the St. Louis business community. He’s familiar with the state’s political terrain. The same applies to Blitz.

Here’s my takeaway from Nixon’s move:

1. As much as I’d like to put your minds completely at ease here, it can’t be done. This on the surface is an encouraging development, but we have to wait this out to see if a legit stadium plan materializes … a plan that has an actual chance to succeed. Anyone can display a drawing of a stadium to use for political cover. A drawing is worthless.

So that will be the first checkpoint: is this on the level, or just politics as usual?

The second phase: If there’s a serious attempt to fund a stadium with extensive use of public money, it will set off a contentious debate among pro-stadium and anti-stadium forces.

But Peacock must believe it’s possible to strike a deal; he wouldn’t have gone down this road if he expected failure. And again, I believe Peacock and Blitz are familiar with the obstacles that await them.

2. This clearly buys St. Louis more time. As I have written many times, the NFL would be more lenient in allowing Kroenke to move if inertia set in and no effort was made to solve the long-term stadium issue here. But if this launch leads to a stadium plan being unveiled over the next couple of months — and I’m confident it will — then the NFL is highly unlikely to allow Kroenke to take the Rams elsewhere. This will effectively stop the clock on a move for the 2015 season.

To elaborate: the NFL rules on franchise relocation guidelines prevent an owner from running away with his team just because, well, you know, he feels like doing so.

Here’s Article 4.3, section A of the NFL bylaws, and I’ve italicized the essential part:

“Because League policy favors stable team-community relations, clubs are obligated to work diligently and in good faith to obtain and to maintain suitable stadium facilities in their home territories, and to operate in a manner that maximizes fan support in their current home community.”

And:

“If, having diligently engaged in good faith efforts, a club concludes that it cannot obtain a satisfactory resolution of its stadium needs, it may inform the League Office and the stadium landlord or other relevant public authorities that it has reached a stalemate in those negotiations. Upon such a declaration, the League may elect to become directly involved in the negotiations.”

In other words … even if the eventual negotiations between the Rams and the stadium task force reach an impasse, then the league will step in and try to help broker a deal.

So we’re a couple of pretty significant stages away from Kroenke getting a green light to head to LA — if that’s what he wants to do.

That’s why Nixon’s first good-faith step is an important development. As long as Peacock and Blitz and area leaders are working diligently toward a potential stadium resolution, the league can implement the bylaws to block Kroenke from fleeing.

Should anyone entirely trust the NFL to adhere to its own rules? Of course not. But just apply some common sense here. When is the last time the NFL allowed a team to move from a city that just committed to building a new stadium for the franchise? Answer: it’s never happened.

But if the plan doesn’t make it off the drawing board, if it’s nothing more than a stunt, then the league will see it for what it is: a lot of flash, with no cash. A plan that’s DOA. And that’s when Kroenke can begin to make an earnest case for moving. For now, however, this action by Nixon slows the game down.

And if Peacock and Blitz can really get things going, they’ll keep the NFL informed on their new-stadium progress and the people who run the league will know exactly what’s going on here.

In this scenario, Kroenke won’t be able to claim that St. Louis is ignoring the issue. He won’t be able to sneak his way out of here. Again … if that’s his intention. Who knows what the guy is really thinking?

The initial move made by Nixon was only the first step of many. But it had to be taken. And as long as this wasn’t a misdirection play, it was a step in the right direction.

Thanks for reading …

— Bernie