Rams leave St. Louis with $16 million bill for stadium studies

The Rams may be gone, but they’ve left the city of St. Louis with a parting gift: a $16.2 million bill.

The city is on the hook for the money after its failed attempt to build a riverfront stadium to entice the Rams to remain in St. Louis. The fees will go to architects, attorneys, and other associated consultants, as well as options to purchase land along the riverfront. All told, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 22 companies received money from the city, with HOK, a local architecture firm, receiving the most at about $10.5 million. Attorneys’ fees ran to almost $1.7 million, while land options were $1.3 million.

The stadium task force had drawn some local criticism for awarding contracts in a no-bid process and for hiring firms connected to task force members. But the task force members contended that they worked hard and fairly, putting in thousands of hours on a project that was ultimately deemed “unsatisfactory and inadequate” by the NFL.

The Post-Dispatch article listed some of the losses St. Louis and the state of Missouri will incur from the Rams’ departure:

• $10 million in lost athlete taxes from Rams players and their opponents

• $4.2 million in game-day losses from taxes, not including revenues from parking, restaurants, and other associated businesses

• Potential losses from the Rams’ donation to local charities, an amount which totaled a surprisingly low $3.5 million since 1995, according to tax records

The flip side of that, of course, is that the city is not on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars for a new stadium. Certainly, the companies that did the work deserve to be paid, regardless of whether or not the stadium ever came to be. But the NFL and the Rams could have at least picked up the tab.

All told, though, while St. Louis may appreciate the Rams’ tenure, the stench from the manner of departure will linger for years.