Nixon is working on game plan to keep Rams in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS • Gov. Jay Nixon announced on Wednesday a two-man team to tackle the task of keeping professional football in St. Louis.

Nixon asked David Peacock, former president of Anheuser-Busch, and Robert Blitz, attorney for the Edward Jones Dome’s public board, to spend the next 60 days evaluating options.

“I think the NFL understands we are very serious here,” Nixon said in a conference call with reporters. “We are prepared to look at serious options to make sure we stay an NFL city.”

The Rams’ presence here, he said, is “a matter of civic and state pride, and one of international significance.”

Jeff Rainford, chief of staff to St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, said Peacock and Blitz “are the right two guys.”

Jim Shrewsbury, chairman of the Dome authority board, noted that the appointments signaled Nixon is not just delaying the long-rumored Rams departure but is intent on finding a potential solution.

“Those are the people who can make a deal,” Shrewsbury said of the two. “I feel better about this than I’ve ever felt. That’s not to say there’s going to be success, but the county, the city and the state are moving in the right direction.”

Still, as usual these days, Rams owner Stan Kroenke played no role in the announcement. Wednesday night the Rams issued a one-sentence statement: “We have spoken with the Governor’s office and we will meet with the task force.”

Nixon mentioned that his personal relationship with Kroenke was still “very good,” noting their time together in Columbia, playing basketball and watching Mizzou games.

But he wouldn’t say whether he had met with Kroenke about this issue, nor how much money he thought it would take to keep the Rams here.

He did, however, say that he expected private investment to be part of any effort, be it an overhaul of the Jones Dome or a new open-air stadium downtown, as has been reported as an option.

Moreover, he said, any deal would have to identify new revenue opportunities. He mentioned bidding on the NCAA Final Four, for instance. “Heck,” Nixon said, “we’re doing a lot of things.”

Nixon said the effort had some advantages already:

As an A-B executive, Peacock worked directly with the National Football League on advertising and marketing. For years, Blitz has been attorney for the Dome authority, which financed and built the Jones Dome, and worked some on the original deal to build the stadium.

And the state, city and county are close to paying off bond debt on the Dome — a funding stream leaders have discussed using to pay for a new stadium.

But Nixon wouldn’t elaborate on the finances. “This can get complicated,” he said. “Let’s not kid ourselves.”

Nixon said the 60-day analysis should give him options in advance of Jan. 28, the date he said the Rams could choose to go year-to-year on the team’s lease at the Dome.

Many have speculated over the past year that the Rams would soon leave for Los Angeles, the Rams’ former home and a city that remains without an NFL team. By NFL policy, teams have until Feb. 15 to inform the league of their intentions to relocate. Technically, the Rams could try.

The lease at the Dome requires regular and substantial publicly financed improvements to the facility so as to keep it in the “first tier” among NFL stadiums. Two years ago, the Rams asked for as much as $700 million in upgrades, including a retractable roof and a glass-walled eastern entrance. An arbitration panel ruled in the team’s favor, but regional leaders declined, saying it wasn’t a wise investment.

And that meant the Rams could get out of the lease in 2015 instead of 2025.

Still, it wouldn’t be easy for the Rams to move to Los Angeles. There’s no stadium ready for a team. The league would almost certainly charge a nine- or 10-figure relocation fee. Owners would have to approve the move. And the league would analyze any decision based on a lengthy set of criteria. One factor it weighs heavily: How hard the hometown is working to keep the team.

Nixon’s conference call Wednesday clearly anticipated that process. He said he expected the NFL to “react very positively that we’re taking proactive steps to make sure that we’re moving forward here.”

He said he didn’t think there were two more qualified for the task than Peacock and Blitz.

Blitz referred a request for comment to a Fleishman-Hillard vice president, Jim Woodcock, who offered a statement on behalf of Peacock and Blitz. It said the men were eager to get to work: “Taxpayers on the state and local level have a great deal invested in this situation, and we want to make sure that they’re protected.”

Peacock, in a meeting Wednesday afternoon with the Post-Dispatch, was clearly proud to be a part of the effort.

He has been deeply involved in raising millions of dollars for the Gateway Arch grounds renovation. He chairs the St. Louis ��Ƶ Commission, a board on which the Rams’ Demoff also sits. He played football himself, for Webster Groves High.

He doesn’t go to many pro games now, he said. Maybe one in the past three years. But he loves the NFL and wants a team here. “I’m from here,” he said. “You want to be proud of where you’re from.”