In 1988, the
football Cardinals left St. Louis for
Phoenix, Arizona, leaving eastern Missouri without a
National Football League team. Looking to re-enter the league, St. Louis proposed building a domed stadium for a team to play in and attaching the Dome to the convention center to expand convention center capacity. The funding for the project was accomplished via public bonds beginning in 1989. In 1991, St. Louis put in for an NFL expansion franchise for 1995 called the
St. Louis Stallions and began construction on The Dome in 1992. However, in 1993, the league chose
Charlotte, North Carolina, and
Jacksonville, Florida, over St. Louis. After St. Louis came up short in its expansion bid, it appeared that the city might land a new team anyway. Advertising executive
James Orthwein, a St. Louis native and member of the
Busch family, bought the
New England Patriots in 1992 from
Victor Kiam to resolve a debt between the two men. The Patriots had long been in financial malaise since original owner
Billy Sullivan, who was still the team president during Kiam's ownership, had squandered all of his net worth on a series of bad investments in the mid-1980s and was forced to sell the team to Kiam and
Foxboro Stadium to
Robert Kraft. Immediately upon purchase, Orthwein made it clear that he wanted to relocate the team from
Foxborough, Massachusetts to St. Louis and was to leave New England at the end of the 1993 season. Orthwein's plans to move the team however were thwarted when Kraft refused to let Orthwein out of the long-term lease that he had secured from Kiam and Sullivan as part of his purchase of the stadium. Orthwein did not want to own the team if he could not move it, and Kraft initiated a
hostile takeover that resulted in his purchase of the Patriots in 1994. The then under-construction Dome finally received the NFL tenant it was looking for in 1995 when
Georgia Frontiere announced she would relocate the
Los Angeles Rams to St. Louis for the 1995 season. This move was initially voted down, with 21 opposed, three in favor (the Rams,
Cincinnati Bengals and
Tampa Bay Buccaneers), and six abstaining. The other owners (led by Buffalo's
Ralph Wilson, the Jets'
Leon Hess, the Giants'
Wellington Mara, Washington's
Jack Kent Cooke, Arizona's
Bill Bidwill and Minnesota's John Skoglund) believed that the Rams' financial problems were caused by Frontiere's mismanagement. When Frontiere expressed a possible lawsuit against the league, commissioner Paul Tagliabue acquiesced to Frontiere's demands. As part of the relocation deal, the city of St. Louis guaranteed that the stadium's amenities would be maintained in the top 25% of all NFL stadiums. After playing their first four home games of the 1995 season at
Busch Memorial Stadium because the Dome was not ready, the Rams' first game in the stadium on Sunday, November 12, 1995, was a 28–17 win over the Carolina Panthers.
Renovations The Dome received a $30 million renovation in 2009, which replaced the scoreboards with LED video displays (one large in north end zone and one smaller in south end zone) and LED fascia boards around the bowl of the Dome. The renovations also added new premium areas (Bud Light Zone and Clarkson Jewelers Club). Some of the paint work in the Dome was lightened as well and painted in Rams colors (Blue, Gold, and White). In 2010, the Rams locker room was re-built and switched ends from the north end zone to the south end zone. For 2011, new HD monitors were installed throughout the Dome in place of the older screens at concession stands and other areas. Before the 2010 season, the Dome also received a new permanent turf surface. The surface, manufactured by AstroTurf, is AstroTurf's Magic Carpet II Conversion System, which features its GameDay 3D Synthetic Turf System. This system is similar to the original turf system that was in the Dome from 1995 to 2004 whereas it can be rolled up and stored underground in a pit at the Dome. The Dome used a FieldTurf brand surface from 2005 to 2009.
The loss of the Rams (2012–2016) The Dome's primary problem throughout the years centered on a lease signed by the Rams when they came to St. Louis in 1995. For the first decade, the Dome was considered an adequate facility, but eventually the Rams and city leaders became concerned with the Dome's long-term viability.
The lease and poor rankings Under the terms of the lease that the Rams signed in 1995, the Dome was required to be ranked in the top quartile of NFL stadiums through 2015, measured at 10 year intervals. This meant the Dome had to have the proper fan amenities and other features found in modern NFL stadiums. If the building was not ranked in the top quartile, the Rams were free to break the lease and either relocate without penalty or continue to lease the Dome on a year-to-year basis. Not helping matters was the Dome's poor reception with NFL fans and the general public as the years went by. Even after the
2010 renovations many websites ranking the 31 NFL stadiums listed the Dome near the bottom of their respective rankings. In 2008, for a
Sports Illustrated poll, St. Louis fans ranked it the worst out of any NFL stadium at the time with particularly low marks for
tailgating, affordability and atmosphere.
Time magazine in May 2012 ranked the Dome as the 7th worst major sports stadium in the United States. The Dome's exterior was regarded as an "urban eyesore from the get-go, an ugly multi-purpose dome that's one defining feature was its inability to fit into any conceivable cityscape...[that] takes up several city blocks but never developed any reasonable interesting business around it: It has always looked like a huge mall from that sad time in recent American history when cities bragged about how big of a mall they could build". Inside, the Dome was "too vast and too cavernous to hold a lot of sound...[and] was the sort of building that felt empty even when it was full", even during the "
Greatest Show on Turf" halcyon days of the Rams. In 2005, the rankings indicated that the Dome was no longer in the top quartile as mandated by the lease, which gave the Rams the right to begin the process of breaking the lease, or reverting to a year-to-year. The Rams, wishing to afford St. Louis ample opportunity to meet the quartile requirement, instead agreed to waive this right for the 2005 checkpoint in return for $30 million of renovations and improvements. However, both the Rams and city leaders realized at this time that long-term, the Dome needed a major overhaul or St. Louis would again risk losing the Rams after 2015. Things were exacerbated further as fan interest began to decline sharply, the mediocrity the team would experience in the waning days of the Greatest Show on Turf contributed heavily to attendance records hitting a new low for the franchise. The Rams placed in the bottom 5 in attendance every season from 2008 to 2015. By 2015, rumors of the team relocating contributed to the Rams finishing dead last in attendance.
Negotiations With the 2015 deadline looming, the Convention and Visitor Center (the stadium's operator) and the Rams negotiated throughout 2012 on the renovations and agreed to go into
arbitration in 2013 if a deal was not worked out in which three arbitrators mutually agreed on from the
American Arbitration Association to arbitrate the case in 2013. In January 2012, the CVC proposed $48 million in improvements including a new 947-vehicle garage, all funded publicly, with the Rams keeping the garage game-day revenue. With no agreement between both sides in 2013 there was considerable speculation on the future of both the Rams and the stadium with some suggesting the Rams could return to Los Angeles. Further pressure for St. Louis to resolve the issue was that bonds for construction of the Dome were still being paid and would continue to be paid through 2021. Missouri was paying $12 million/year and the City and
County of St. Louis were each paying $6 million/year. On February 1, 2013, the arbitrators ruled in favor of the Rams' $700 million proposal to tear down half the Dome and replace it as the only way among the options presented to bring the Dome up to first-tier status. Various city and county officials said it was unlikely that public funding would be found for such a project. Officials noted that the Rams were contractually obligated to play in the Dome until March 15, 2015, and there was no "buy out" provision to permit the Rams to move before then. City and county officials said they were considering all options including construction of a new stadium elsewhere in the St. Louis area. Rams officials, meanwhile, indicated their preference to stay in St. Louis. The St. Louis Regional Convention (the stadium's owner) and Sports Complex Authority hired
Goldman Sachs in February 2013 "to keep the Rams in the Dome, or, if that's not possible, to maintain a National Football League team in St. Louis." An attorney for St. Louis noted that Goldman had "financed or advised on the financing of every NFL stadium recently built." In April 2013, it was reported by the
Wall Street Journal that the arrangement was being scrutinized by the
Securities and Exchange Commission as new
Dodd–Frank rules restricted firms from offering financial advice to municipalities where it also underwrites its municipal bond transactions. Eventually the hiring fell through and nothing resulted from it. On July 2, 2013, the CVC announced that they were rejecting the Rams' renovation proposal. Missouri governor
Jay Nixon had been negotiating with owner Stan Kroenke since the decision had been made. The earliest the Rams could have broken the lease on the Dome was following the 2014 season, but they chose not to do so in 2014.
Inglewood purchase On January 31, 2014, both the
Los Angeles Times and the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Stan Kroenke purchased approximately 60 acres of land adjacent to the
Forum in
Inglewood, California. Commissioner
Roger Goodell represented that Mr. Kroenke informed the league of the purchase. Kroenke subsequently announced plans to build an NFL stadium on the site, in connection with the owners of the adjacent Hollywood Park site,
Stockbridge Capital Group. This development further fueled rumors that the Rams intended to return its management and football operations to Southern California. The land was initially targeted for a Walmart Supercenter but
Walmart could not get the necessary permits to build it. On January 5, 2015,
The Los Angeles Times reported that Stan Kroenke and Stockbridge Capital Group were partnering up in
developing a new NFL stadium on the Inglewood property owned by Kroenke. The project included a stadium with up to 80,000 seats and a performance venue of up to 6,000 seats while reconfiguring the previously approved Hollywood Park plan for up to of retail, of office space, 2,500 new residential units, a 300-room hotel and of public parks, playgrounds, open space and pedestrian and bicycle access. The stadium would likely be ready by 2019. In lieu of this St. Louis countered with a stadium plan on the north riverfront area of downtown, known as
National Car Rental Field, with the hope of persuading Kroenke to keep the Rams in the city. However, on February 24, 2015, the Inglewood City Council approved the stadium and the initiative with construction planned to begin in December 2015. This generated further debate between the NFL, St. Louis, and the Rams as to whether the Rams should be allowed to relocate when a "first tier" stadium plan was in process. The NFL and the Rams countered that the stadium plan was developed outside of the agreed-upon lease and "first tier" remediation and arbitration process, and therefore could not be considered a binding factor in preventing the Rams from relocating. In addition, the NFL and the Rams expressed concerns over the funding and maintenance of the proposed stadium, which they felt shifted too much of the costs of construction and maintenance to the Rams organization. Ultimately, as the Inglewood stadium would be built without taxpayer subsidy, that effectively sealed the fate of the Rams in St. Louis.
The Rams leave St. Louis The last Rams game at The Dome was on Thursday, December 17, 2015, which they won, 31–23 over
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Rams formally filed their request to leave St. Louis for Los Angeles on January 4, 2016. On January 12, the NFL approved the Rams' request for relocation to Los Angeles for the
2016 NFL season. Once the team left, Missouri taxpayers shouldered the remaining $144 million in debt and maintenance costs on the stadium until the debt was paid off in 2021. In the immediate time period after the Rams left the Dome was mainly used for concerts and events overflow from America's Center, including the September 18, 2018, St. Louis stop for
Taylor Swift's
Reputation Stadium Tour. The Dome still suffers from several design flaws that make it less and less desirable as a convention center. More recently, the Regional Sports Authority has called for additional upgrades to the Dome, to remain competitive for attracting events. Upgrades in lighting, sound, video boards, and various amenities could cost as much as $300 million. Upgrades like this would continue to bring big concerts and conventions to St. Louis, and potentially allow the city to bid for large sporting events like the
NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four and
college football bowl games. The renewal of the
Illinois–Missouri football rivalry in 2026 could also potentially be held at the Dome. Similar upgrades were made to the
Alamodome in San Antonio, which after $50 million in upgrades hosted the
2018 Final Four.
Football returns with the BattleHawks On November 27, 2018, sources confirmed plans by the new
XFL to place one of their 8 teams in St. Louis, whose five home games would be played in the Dome during the league's inaugural season in 2020. This marked the first time professional football had been played in St. Louis since the loss of the Rams. Officials at the Dome also confirmed they had previously been in talks with the former
Alliance of American Football, but had to turn down hosting a team due to scheduling conflicts in spring of 2019 (the AAF ended up shutting down before its season was completed). A busy season for the Dome, including hosting a Boat Show, a
Monster Jam event, a
Garth Brooks concert, and an
AMA Supercross Championship event, meant that the Dome did not have five open weekends to host football games. This left an opening for the XFL to fill, which began play in spring 2020. On December 5, 2018, at a press conference at
MetLife Stadium,
Oliver Luck, the then-CEO and Commissioner of the
XFL, announced that St. Louis had been awarded a team. The Dome was one of two XFL venues with a roof. Along with the
Alamodome,
Camping World Stadium,
Cashman Field and
Lumen Field, it is one of five XFL venues in a
downtown city center. On December 10, 2018, news outlets released the agreement between the league and the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission. The XFL pay a $300,000 deposit and $100,000 for every game played in the Dome. The XFL receives 100% of ticket revenue, and the CVC receives 100% of concessions and catering revenue. This contract was signed for three seasons. The first XFL game at the Dome was held on Sunday, February 23, 2020, when the BattleHawks defeated the
New York Guardians by a score of 29–9. Opening Day attendance was the highest in the XFL at 29,554. At the time, XFL games did not use any seats at the Terrace Level of the Dome, bringing the capacity for games down to about 30,000. Given the high ticket sales, the team considered using the Terrace Level, but with the season truncated by the
COVID-19 pandemic, those plans did not come to fruition in 2020. For the team's home opener the 2023 season, an estimated 35,000 tickets sold for the team's March 11 home opener and both the terrace level and the upper decks of the dome were opened to accommodate the high demand. The game drew an XFL record 38,310 attendance, eclipsing the previous record St. Louis set in 2020 and record of 38,253 set by the
San Francisco Demons of the
original XFL in 2001. ==Naming rights==