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Brendan Marks posted on October 10, 2014 16:23
The possibility of the Rams leaving St. Louis has been a popular conversation as of late, and with owner Stan Kroenke staying quiet, COO Kevin Demoff has been left to answer questions on the issue.
With the Los Angeles rumors continuing to swirl, Demoff stopped in on The Edmonds, McKernan and Moe Show Friday Listen to their whole conversation here. The transcript of the entire thing can be read below:
Demoff on Edmonds, McKernan and Moe
Rams fans are in a panic based on numerous reports on Los Angeles getting a team. What would you say to fans?
Everything you see is rumor and innuendo and it starts with the national media and unnamed sources. The key thing to remember is what’s most important for the national media is to get the LA story and to try and break that. Nobody in the national media is excited about talking about whether the team is going to stay in St. Louis or the progress being made on that front. So the first place they’re going is to LA for those comments, and I think that stirs up a lot of emotion and fear locally and that’s what it’s designed to do quite honestly. The one key thing to remember is that none of that is coming from us. We never said anything of the like. I know people will be frustrated that we haven’t said a lot about the situation but I think we’ve always said that we’re in a year to year situation and there’s a lot of work to be done to make progress but it’s something we’ve always looked at as there’s plenty of time. The deadline is March 31, 2015 and I think when you see the reports about Los Angeles you see a lot of different reports about teams and potential candidates, and none of them are focused on us, I think it’s based on the league initiative in general.
Will the Rams be playing their home games in St. Louis in 2015?
I certainly hope so. I’ve always been optimistic and hopeful. As we’ve always said from the beginning of this…there are no promises beyond this year. The lease is year to year and expires March 31, 2015. But the Edward Jones Dome doesn’t actually implode March 31, 2015. There are many teams that have been in a year to year situation. Chargers have been there almost 10 years, the Raiders have been there, the Vikings have been there, the Buffalo Bills have been there. We’re not the first team ever to be in a year to year. The Vikings actually had their lease expire for a couple of days before there stadium was agreed to. So I think, given the history of stadiums in St. Louis, and given that St. Louis has lost a team, there’s a much greater sensitivity to this issue than you may have seen in other markets and probably rightfully so given the history. Our focus is on, how do we improve the fan experience and put a great product on the field and how does all of that help us move forward, locally moving forward.
You or any representatives of the Rams had discussions with any other city or any other cities regarding playing you’re home games there in 2015?
We would keep any conversations we’ve had confidential. Our viewpoint is we will see where we are at the end of the year. There is no active discussions going on, there is no done deal as has been said. There is no secret plan. I think the focus is on ending this year and seeing where we are and where we’re at. Quite to the contrary, there have been a number of other teams that have had very public discussions with other cities.
Here is ultimately where where you’re at: Since the Edward Jones Dome has been built, 27 teams have had new stadiums built or have had over $400 million put into their current stadiums. Of the remaining stadiums – Buffalo, Jacksonville, St. Louis, San Diego and Oakland are the remaining five. Buffalo just had a transaction, that means the remaining four are going to be the candidates that any team talks about, any city looks at as a candidate for relocation because those stadium situations haven’t been solved. When you look at us, when you look at Oakland, when you look at San Diego…all teams have the ability to get out of their lease after this year, and in the case of both us and San Diego, we’re both natural candidates for conversation and the first place people target.
If there are no active discussions with other cities, how would the franchise be able to pick up and move in four months?
I think what stirred up the hornet’s nest in the last week is the NFL and AEG just talked about a six-month extension in Farmer’s Field, so that’s got everybody in Oakland and San Diego and St. Louis on edge. People are speculating about our motive, our intent and fill in the blanks as to where things stand on a day to day basis. Our focus everyday is on improving the fan experience and putting a winning product on the field. Our entire focus on 2014 is on 2014. I think there’s plenty of time after the season to look in the future and see what lies ahead. It does no good to handicap or prognosticate. I’m always optimistic, I’m always hopeful. Everything we’ve done since I’ve gotten joined this club has been to improve the fan experience in St. Louis and to improve the on-field product to try and make it better. There would be no reason to look at anything else right now. The biggest problem for our fans is we haven’t solved the stadium issue and the on-field product, right now we’re off to a slow start. Those two lead to a lot of angst, a lot of disappointment and a lot of worry. We gotta try and knock both those down, and once we can do that we’ll restore some hope to the fan base.
The silence of Stan Kroenke. Why isn’t he talking?
Stan is on record as saying when he bought this thing is he’s not going to lead the charge out of St. Louis. He helped bring football to St. Louis and that’s the only statement on record. I think the distrust probably comes from people filling in their own blanks and their own gaps. I think everything Stan Kroenke’s done since he bought this team has pointed to wanting to put a winning product on the field. He went out and got the best coach to get in 2012 in Jeff Fisher. And while we haven’t had a lot of success just yet, I think everyone agrees we’ve done everything whether it be spending the salary cap, hiring and paying assistant coaches. Everything that we can do to improve the product has been done. We’ve expanded our preseason television network, we’ve expanded our radio network, we’ve been more engaged in the community than any other team in St. Louis. So I think when you look at all of our actions it’s been done to improve the product on where we’re at.
We’ve had a lot of discussions behind the scenes that may not be public , and we don’t believe you negotiate these things in public with local leaders. We’ve had a lot of positive discussions and I hope more come here from where we stand. I’m always optimistic that we’re going to be able to turn the corner and engage with people on meaningful dialogue. Obviously we’ve made no promises, that’s the stance we’ve taken from the beginning and I know that frustrates the fans. One of the things we hear is ‘I wish you would talk on the situation.’ We’ve talked plenty the problem is we just haven’t said the magic words and magic promises that people want to hear. Nobody would love to say them more than me but I also believe this is a results oriented process and if it helps us get a stadium then that’s the approach to take.Has the organization had conversations with Jay Nixon or St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay?
We’ve always said with the mayor’s and the governor’s office that we would keep all conversations with local leaders private and confidential and I will just leave it at that. I’m always optimistic, we’ve had really good discussions with civic leaders throughout this period of time. They haven’t all made it to the media, some of them have, some of them haven’t. I think these kind of stadium deals are best negotiated initially behind closed doors. They believe that and we believe that as well.
What do you mean when you said you were surprised the process wasn’t further along?
I think it goes back to being an optimist. Since I’ve joined this club we’ve been talking about stadium discussions and opportunities and what can be done in St. Louis. I would’ve always hoped we never would’ve even gotten to this point, that we would’ve been much closer. I was hopeful the arbitration would help solve this problem. I look at this and the discussions we could have. When we talk to our season ticket holders…many express, ‘we would love a stadium downtown, we would love a stadium in Fenton, we like the current building the way it is.’ I think our hope would’ve been he could’ve been seriously engaged in a number of different options or have a clear path on what people want, whether it’s a downtown stadium, whether it’s a county stadium, whether it’s indoors, whether it’s outdoor. Those to me are kind of the bigger picture things that I look at. But I also realize this is a deadline driven world and sometimes when you look at these things they come down to the very end. As I said, Minnesota got past their lease before a stadium issue was resolved and maybe this process will be much more like that as opposed to the others.
For fans, it would help if Stan Kroenke would talk. Why is the silent path he takes, as opposed to being out in front?
You have to look at his interaction with other teams that he’s owned, whether it’s been the teams in Denver or Arsenal. There’s a way Stan has always run his franchise, which is he hires the people he believes will lead them to success. They’re the ones out front and that’s not his style. I think, ultimately, this is what he’s most comfortable with in operating a franchise. I think when he said what he said when he bought the team, he was sincere, he was genuine and in the meantime there’s a path and a process that’s behind closed doors, and that’s what we’ve adapted to.
You said things are going to get worse before they get better. Why did you say that?
My goal is to try and tell people what I expect and what I think and to try and be fairly honest. Every stadium situation I’ve ever watched anywhere in any sport it always gets worse before it gets better, especially when you have a lease that’s year to year. The rumor and the innuendo, I think we’re starting to see exactly what we always thought would happen which is people speculating and talking about things that are well beyond facts or what’s evidence. I felt that a long time ago. It’s starting to take fruition, I still think it’ll probably get worse before it gets better. The first thing I’ll say is I’m glad that fans are disappointed and upset. That to me is a lot better than apathy. I would much rather handle anger and a passionate fan base that is upset about this than one that takes it sitting down and is apathetic. It’s hard to believe now but the Seattle Seahawks actually moved to Los Angeles for about two weeks in 1996 before returning back to Seattle. I don’t think anybody now looks at their fanbase and says they’re not passionate, they’re not a great team, that’s not a great market. So these things tend to get worse before they get better and I always look at if we can get this thing done, how do we move forward, how do we build a great stadium, how do we make St. Louis a better place for having a great venue? It may be worse before it gets better, it may not get worse before it gets better. I’ve never wanted to be called a liar, I’ve always wanted to be transparent on how this process is gonna go. And I did believe it would get worse before it gets better and, quite honestly, I’m probably still pretty certain it will still get worse before it gets better because the rumors will only keep going
Is the Dome really an option to keep the Rams in St. Louis?
Absolutely. I think all options we would consider and look at on the table. I don’t think we’ve ever been limited into what would help us move forward. I couldn’t be more clear about this on a number of cases. This is not just a Rams problem. I think we look at this on how do we bring Mizzou-Illinois back? How do we bring Final Fours back? How do we work with the sports commission and bring gymnastics trials and swimming trials and great sporting events and a bowl game and a college kick off and concerts. It’s hard to believe One Direction was the first major concert at the Edward Jones Dome in 11 years. A venue that size should have more concerts. We need to get a venue that bring those events back to St. Louis and help improve the local community and grow St. Louis as city together. Any options that we can look at together like that would certainly look at on the table. I don’t think we’re close minded to any possibilities.
Where would they like to build stadium? I think we would look at what’s best for the region, how best to move it forward, if there was a strong consensus whether to make it downtown, whether to put it in the county, I think we’re certainly hoping and I don’t think we have a desired site that we’ve circled and said ‘this has to be what it is.’ It’s gotta be what’s best for everybody and I think that’s a community discussion, not just a Rams-driven discussion.
Looking at land near the airport? I don’t think that rumor has any legs either. That’s something I haven’t heard of.
So no guarantees the Rams will be playing in St. Louis next year? Unfortunately I wish I could offer up something beyond that, but if we’re going to be in a year-to-year situation and try to get something accomplished and something to move the ball forward, then that’s unfortunately where you wind up. I know it’s not what our fans want to hear but our focus has been on this year and I know if we could deliver winning football that would improve everything and hopefully it’d probably bring some groundswell to get the ball moving. I’m hopefully there’s much more positive discussion in the next few weeks, months locally than maybe there has been today and I think that would help to get things moving forward. But there are no guarantees and I think we’ve been very clear on that. I don’t think that means that anything’s in a state of complete, it just means there’s a lot of work to do on a lot of different fronts and that’s all in front of us. This is a deadline driven world and there’s still plenty of time left. There’s still three full months left in the season, there’s still six full months until March 31, 2015 and we’ve gotta put that time to good use.
On rumors: The hard part is people want us to respond to every rumor. That’s just not something we’re gonna do. I thought it was important this week with everything swirling to kind of make sure we’re not avoiding any topics but at the same time when people come up with opinions, when people come up with rumors, I don’t think it does us any good to respond to every rumor, to jump at everything or even to embrace them if it was, ‘hey we’re about to finish a deal on land near the airport,’ I think ultimately this is something we’re going to continue to work on and I just have to have faith that we can move forward and get something done.
Agamemnon
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