The NFL's Abandoned Dome - The Dome at America's Center - Former Home of the St. Louis Rams
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- čas přidán 12. 08. 2021
- The Dome at America’s Center, previously the Trans World Dome, or the Edward Jones dome is the former home of the Greatest Show on Turf, the St. Louis Rams. The Rams called the stadium home for exactly 20 years from 1995 to 2015, before leaving and returning to Los Angeles. For such a new stadium, opening in 1995 the Dome at America’s Center is truly a sad site to see. In today’s episode of the Archive of Everything we’re going to find out what happened to the Dome at America’s Center after the Rams left town.
When the Rams moved into the Dome in 1995, they had a contract stipulation that the dome would have to be in the top 25% of NFL stadiums or the Rams were free to break their lease on the stadium at any time or change to a year to year lease. The negative reception of the dome as time went on didn’t help boost its rankings, and by 2010 the Dome needed an update. New video boards and other more modern features were added but it didn’t help. Fans and the media noted that it looked like a shopping mall, and felt cramped and uninspiring inside.
With these complications, St Louis and the Rams entered into arbitration in 2013 to try and lay out a new plan for the stadium. St Louis rejected the Rams $700 million dollar proposal that would have rebuilt much of the stadium. A sliding glass wall and skylights would have been added, in addition to a massive center scoreboard. As time went on negotiations and relations between the parties continued to rapidly deteriorate and the Rams finally announced plans to return to Los Angeles.
Its now 2021 and its been 6 years since the Rams left St Louis. What happened to the Dome? Was it imploded? Did a new team move in? Did St Louis finally renovate the stadium?
The first incredible fact about the post Rams Dome is the fact that St Louis tax payers are still paying for the stadium. The $144 million dollars of debt will finally be paid off at the end of this year. The outdated features and overall hatred of the design have people still calling for renovations to be made. The Regional Sports Authority that runs the Dome estimates that it could cost as much as $300 million dollars to update the stadium and try to get new events into the venue. These renovations have yet to take place.
Football finally returned to St Louis when the XFL’s St Louis BattleHawks kicked off on February 13, 2020 when the Battlehawks played in front of a crowd of 29,554 fans. Unfortunately due to the pandemic the XFL collapsed and the BattleHawks folded. The Dome for a split second had a new team, and lost it just as fast.
That really does bring us to today, the Dome in the past 6 years has lost two professional football teams, and the highlight of its post Rams days may have been hosting a stop on Taylor Swift’s bad reputation tour. How ironic seeing the bad reputation of this Dome.
The Dome couldn’t even hold onto its name, when the Rams left for LA Edward Jones immediately terminated the sponsorship. The Dome still sits mostly abandoned, hosting the occasional concert or convention, the only sound of people complaining about its poor aesthetics as they wander the empty halls. - Sport
St. Louisan here. Not abandoned or forgotten at all. Concerts, auto racing, all sorts of stuff goes on there still
Ture. ha wtf is this. Go battlehawks
First and only time I was there was when my high school team managed to get to the state championship game that was hosted at the Dome of America’s Center. It was called Edward Jones Dome at the time, and I enjoyed seeing an NFL stadium on the inside. Sadly my school’s team got completely destroyed in the game, but it was an interesting moment in my life.
Yes, there were tons of high school competition events held there. Agreed, for all of us kids that participated in events, the sensationalism of performing at a pro stadium was electric! Such a fun time in a great city, as the Rams were a Super Bowl Team with guys like Warner and Faulk.🏈✨
Been to this dome. Really enjoyed watching the hawks and rams do battle. I honestly thought the stadium was nice and had good sight lines to watch a game. The only thing I notice that made it look horrible was the different color seats they had. Concession looked good the walkways had good space. In all for an older stadium it looked nice.
You never would have guessed the place was ever a football stadium, even when the Rams played there. It looks much more like an overbuilt basketball, and/or hockey arena instead! Even then, I do wonder why the building became obsolete so soon, when much older venues are still alive and kicking as we speak though?
It didn't become obsolete. A large number of new stadiums were built that made it not one of the 25% that were the newest.
Kroenke wanted to move to LA so the NFL broke it's Constitution and now the NFL will probably have to pay St Louis around a billion dollars
I say make the Dome in St. Louis like the Superdome in New Orleans. That place is so iconic. They should apply the same principles.
@@boogitybear2283 two words:
Truckasaurus Museum
@@boogitybear2283 And to think the Saints were trying to get a new stadium before Katrina struck way back in 2005 too!
Even older stadiums like Soldier Field, and Lambeau Field have a classic look to them, which keeps them relevant.
However, this dome is ugly, and has zero appeal.
This is an absolutely beautiful facility that was filled with amenities on every level. It hosted Final Fours, concerts, and even the Pope. It's far better than most outdoor stadiums the NFL still uses and also way better than other domed facilities like the SuperDome in New Orleans which was completely trashed after Katrina. St. Louis got a bad deal from Kroenke and the NFL but still has a great convention center if they ever want to renovate. Just goes to show how the NFL tolerates mediocrity by some franchises, but clearly won't stand by others.
SuperDome was completely renovated after Katrina. What you talking about Willis??
Not even close to better than the Superdome.
@@cmbox1184superdome is garbage but better than these stadiums
This dome is small
It's ok to say it... This dome sucks!
Last week it was learned why the Rams left St. Louis when Rams owner Stan Kroenke agreed with the NFL to get out of an indemnity agreement he made with the NFL to reimburse them should any lawsuit damages be awarded to St. Louis for moving the team. Stan Kroenke had already bought the land for SOFI years prior so he showed no interest in a new outdoor football stadium on its riverfront that had been approved for funding by St. Louis. Unilke San Diego and Oakland, Stan Kroenke never expected St. Louis to approve funding on a new stadium. St. Louis was forced to work through the NFL and its reolcation by-laws. The NFL relocation committee recommended the Rams stay in St. Louis based upon its new stadium. An initial vote by owners also was in favor of the Rams staying in St. Louis. A second vote on that same day after Jerry Jones called a meeting of the owners quickly swayed almost all owenr to vote in favor of Stan Kroenke. You knew there had to have been a payoff so now it is known what occurred. Mara of the New York Giants has already said the Rams would have never left St. Louis without the indemnity agreement. Fan support was never an issue in St. Louis. Even in 1988 when the Cardinals left for Arizona, owner Bill Bidwell only left after St. Louis city and county could not agree on the location of a new stadium. It is ironic how it took Arizona 18 years to finally build a new stadium as they were forced all those years to play in a college football stadium. The St. Louis trial versus the NFL on January 10 trial is coming soon. The NFL should be fined and its relocation by-laws removed since they are false and misleading. Stan Kroenke should also then reimburse the NFL on any damagers awarded to St. Louis as he agreed and was the basis for moving out of St. Louis. At least St. Louis now knows why the Rams left St. Louis despite having a new stadium ready for construction. Stan Kroenke kept expecting any trial to be thrown out and dismissed but that never occurred. Of course, the NFL could still settle out of court, as other internal documents of the NFL become known that could prove to be even more damaging to them. Stan Kroenke was far too wealthy of an owner for the smaller St. Louis market.
Heh, Stan's first offer of 100 million was laughed at
@@jamesoverholt878 I was one of the ones who thought this lawsuit was a real long shot. Learning about how the indemnification agreement swung all but two votes I even saw an L.A.. site recently on CZcams say it was like the owners knew what they were doing was wrong but they thought Kroenke would pick up the tab for them anyway. Amazing. I have found on CZcams there are California fans who thought the Rams were staying in STL and the Chargers and Raiders would be part of the Carson project. There are even fans there who think the relocation was bungled, but Las Vegas does look like a popular site right now that started with the Vegas Golden Knights.
@@larryloveless2967 guess they should have read the fine print where Kroenke only has to cover the legal fees.
Oops
@@jamesoverholt878 I know. The indemnification agreement had to have been rushed when Jerry Jones gathered the owners together right after the inital vote failed. I suspect they thought Kroenke was picking up all of the tab including any damages when changing their votes. Even though I am from St. Louis, this is so sad yet also hilarious. I wonder what the owners were actually told was in the agreement. Like you said better always read what is being signed.
Satan Kroenke will burn in hell one day.
They race dirt cars in it, in December they have one of the best dirt track races out there. It's awesome actually
Battlehawks came back in 2023 and drew great crowds, leading the XFL. It may not be flashy like some of the newer places, but the Dome is holding its own.
@Erik Stone, "holding its own..?" How do you reach that conclusion? Yeah, "it would hold its own" if we were back in the 80's or 90's. It's now a relic and an eyesore.
The Edwards Jones Dome always has an Autoshow every year.
I'd imagine what the venue looked like in royal rumble 2022 lol
Kroeke gave up on St Louis smelling that California TV money he didn't want the team to succeed he just wanted out we love football here and the city would welcome it ,if it we're given half a chance .
From what I see the dome looks really nice.
It sure looks great on the outside.
Lipstick 💄 on a pig! Your comment reminds me of a line the old Cleveland Browns owner used back in the 90's. "Putting on a new dress on an old hooker isn't my idea of going out dancing." Lol...
The XFL was bought by Dwayne Johnson and the stadium doesn't have lost the 2nd team.
They definitely should not dump any more money into it. Cut your losses and move on
It would be interesting to see what kroenke would’ve done if the city approved the 700 million in changes to the dome.
He would still have left. Dude does not like us st. Louis natives.
@@therobable1 if they approved it he would have to stay for at least 10 more years. It would’ve just been funny to see him wait longer.
Lets take a look at this. 700 million dollar balloon roof dome or 4 Billion dollar state of the art facility in one of the Nations biggest markets...............Hmmmm Thats a poser LOL
The St. Louis city officials should build National Car Rental Field for the United Football League, National Football League , and Major League Rugby
Good Point
St. Louis did balk at $700 million in the arbitration (which would have been 100% paid for by tax dollars not available to the appropriate agencies), but was willing to build a new open-air stadium nearby on the Mississippi River. As we're finally learning from the ongoing STL-NFL lawsuit, the team willfully ignored this plan, in direct violation of the NFL's own relocation policy (which is the basis of the lawsuit).
F the Rams. They should have never left Los Angeles to begin with. The Jacksonville Jaguars expansion team should have been awarded to St. Louis versus Jacksonville.
@@boogitybear2283 , The real reason the Rams left LA in the first place was because they were not popular there, The Rams are winning now and they're popular in LA, but when the honeymoon is over and they become mediocre again, which is inevitable considering they don't have any draft choices left (they mortgaged their future) then they will become again like they were when they were in Anaheim, when nobody even cared about the Rams.
When the Rams moved to St Louis, in LA at the time it was like "So What? Who cares?" Eventually the Rams will move away again.
@@4321grp They still aren’t popular there but what can you do? These NFL owners are Leeches!!!
The deal was the dome had to be renovated. Stl declined that’s enough for the Rams to have free availability to leave. Stl dropped the ball not the Rams
@@4321grp you don't get it. The Rams started losing popularity in Los Angeles market when Georgia took over the team from her husband's passing. She quickly shifted the team to Orange County and never made any effort toward improving the team, so she could move it to STL. She is "the real reason". If her husband didn't suddenly pass away, he would have kept the team in L.A. and ran it a hell of a lot better and kept its popularity.
As far as now goes, they have done a great job of trading away future picks for players that can help now. And it's not like they traded away decades worth of draft picks, but just 2 years worth. Read between the lines. Kroenke basically undid what Georgia did.
I feel like the US National Soccer team should have a home stadium in St. Louis because it's pretty much in the middle of the country. Yes Kansas City is more central but most people live east of the Mississippi River so St. Louis is closer to more people. Maybe the Dome at America's Center could be like El Azteca for the USMNT.
The Dome is not that bad. I have to been to many events in there. Including the convention center attached to it. Could it use some updates? Sure. But it was not an eyesore to the city, or a dilapidated NFL stadium when the Rams were there. The city was going to build a new turn key stadium in an effort to keep the Rams. Neither the NFL or Kroenke were sincere in their efforts.
For real, it's actually pretty nice. Probably better than enterprise or Busch but those two have a better vibe. Maybe because they have a team now.
I like the Dome! It was always loud in there and no bad weather to tolerate!
The City of St.Louis won their case though... Kroenke has to pay up $500mil
The story about the indemnification agreement Kroenke signed to reimburse the NFL should any damages be awarded to STL gets stranger by the day. Apparently wording of the contract may have only applied to litigation fees in the contract and not damages. Only thing is that Mara and other owners did not realize what was in writing at the time of the agreement and assumed it applied to damages as well, so they swung their votes over to Kroenke so he could move to L.A.. Now it is being reported Kroenke backing out of the indemnification agreement is actually only him following what was written in the agreement. Things were rushed after their inital vote to keep the Rams in STL and then swing their votes so quickly that same day for Kroenke to leave for L.A.. This is all coming out in the open as a result of the STL lawsuit. Who knows what will happen next?
Heading to the dome this week for the largest racing spectacle around, far from abandon
Personally, I like the Dome. I’m there to watch a Football game not to look around the venue. For starts, it was a lot more comfortable than attending a Bucs game in the miserable Tampa Heat or the Cold and Wet Games in Cincinnati. I say relocate the Jacksonville Jaguars to St. Louis. They can still be in the AFC South with nearby Nashville and Indianapolis.
That dome is a dump!
Wow, the concourses are cramped look like they were made for a high school gym. What a difference to SOFI stadium in LA.
They just had a WWE PPV there last week and the event looked awesome.
The rams did so much charity work. I’m sad but we all saw it coming.
I actually love the look and design
The video states the city rejected a $770M proposal by the Rams to upgrade the stadium. The presentation neglects to point out that the Rams weren't going to pay for it, but wanted it to come from public funds. The Rams weren't serious about staying in St. Louis. The Dome was a fine stadium for its time. The city was stuck with unethical ownership.
It did host an XFL team for a year
Looks like this story now ends with STL getting 790 million settlement with 35% going to lawyers so netting around 500 million. The NFL at least for owners wanting to relocate should just remove their worthless relocation by-laws since owner voting decides all anyway. As learned from the Kroenke indemnification agreement, owners only care about not wanting to be financially affected and have the owner moving take all the consequences. I think an owner does have the right to move whenever and wherever but cities beware. Not that Spanos would move the Chargers to St. Louis for that new outdoor stadium STL approved for funding, but Spanos if he did move to STL could actually move to yet another city and STL left wih an empty new stadium after just 5 years. I wish STL could instead have a community owned team like the Green Bay Packers, but I have been told their form of ownership is no longer allowed. There is now talk of tearing down a 25 year old Dome, which really was fine for just watching 8 football games a year. I mean how much luxury do you need to watch a football game? I hope the Dome does remain in case the XFL starts up again in 2023 and the Battle Hawks can play there again. The XFL was really popular in St. Louis.
Nobody cares...
@@oscaru5342 Only St. Louis cares. The NFL owners certainly did not care as long as they had indemnification agreement protection from Stan Kroenke against St. Lois lawsuits since most knew their guilt. The NFL did not even offer St. Louis 200 millon to jump start stadium plans like they did for Oakland and San Diego that never even got anything off the ground. The XFL Battle Hawks averaged close to 40,000 a game again showing the lies of Stan Kroenke, but I do get he wanted that large TV market in L.A. so was just not a very good sports franchise owner for the smaller market in St. Louis. The NFL should have set up an expansion team as compromise. Since this comment was made the owners of Enterpise here completed a new soccer stadium. It seats 22,500 and for 18,000 season ticket requests there were requests for 60,000 season tickets. St. Louis is a hotbed for soccer given many years of Catholic youth leagure soccer and the largest Bosinian immigration in the country. The key though for St. Loiis to become the elite city for MLS soccer in the United States not seen prior here was that the owners of Enterprise privately built the new stadium with no public funding. It took a long while getting an MLS team since public funding for a sports team can only lead to trouble when there is an owner like Stan Kroenke.
It won’t be abandoned for long, the St Louis Battlehawks will be playing there in February
Been there in the last two years for the Rolling Stones, a St. Louis Battlehawks football game and a sporting convention. Great building that now needs an overhaul and is about to begin getting one. Kroenke and NFL owners paid $790 to settle on December 24, 2021, so the money and the will is there. Bye bye NFL--what a great 10 days a year that was--and hello to concerts, conventions and that $790 million.
I used to work there and it got weird after the Rams left! Ijs!
The BattleHawks are back
This is kind of sad being a rams fan of both3.5
Bring back the St.Louis Rams !
Hopefully one day a nfl expansion team goes to st Louis
No san Antonio first
The NFL is the perfect size at 32 teams, I think it's more likely teams like the Chargers and Commanders relocate
Regardless of what anyone knows or thinks. Rams were moving back to LA regardless if anyone forked out money. This dome isnt abandoned 🙄concerts, motocross, Battlehawks, etc.
It's not abandoned it's still in use
The Hawks have returned! Ka-kaw!
The Dome makes more money now than when the Rams were here because more dates are open & available for events. Well, at least before the pandemic through everything up in the air. So I miss the NFL, but it’s not too bad of a situation.
The Chicago bears need a dome like Edward James dome in ST. Louis just built the size and structure of it at Arlington heights it has enough room to build a dome like that.
Royal rumble 2022
They had the Royal Rumble there this year
Needs to be extremely updated..very dated. This video that is. It’s a relic.
I did see several supercross races there.
The XFL's Saint Louis Battle Hawks are coming to town
Sad because it seems to have some. Potential but not sure what could be done with it without ruining the brick exterior which is the only unique feature it Has
A year later, the Dome is experiencing a semi-revitalization with the 2023 XFL Battlehawks playing 5 home games there. it's still a lower-tier stadium by NFL standards, but at least it's getting second (third?) life as a pro football venue, with plans for the Battlehawks to return in 2024. The XFL doesn't have the money to upgrade anything yet. However, by XFL standards, it's a palace as it stands today.
You make it sound like it's abandoned. It's not. It's part of a convention center complex.
It's an eyesore
@@oscaru5342 idk, it's a decent building. It just doesn't have the ball massagers built into the sky box seats the NFL demands
@james overholt, Trust me, that's not the only thing it's missing... Try walking into SoFi Stadium so you can get a load of all the other things it's missing...
Very sad just took the money and wasted it..instead could have given it to the overall community..and produced results.
I’m going to 2 concerts there next year. 😆
Nfl should really think about few more expansion teams being granted to each divison,meaning 8 new expansion teams.
Don’t forget, it host marching band shows too.
Yeah I went to DCI there a few years ago
The outside looks better than my Metlife Stadium.
I remember my first NFL game at the Edwards Jones dome (America's center isn't it's real name). It was Rams vs Chiefs and by the 3rd quarter the Rams were losing so bad that my cousin and I started to cheer for the chiefs. I would be less mad about the move if it wasn't for the fact that the rams basically tried to suck to have an excuse to leave STL. To this day the Rams are the only team I cheer against no matter what. Fuck the Rams.
Chiefs fan from birth here. But lived in st. Louis my whole life. I thought it was a cool venue for football. Better than freezing anywhere else. Besides arrowhead of course!
You are forgetting about monster jam they use that
Stadium-i-tis. Meanwhile, people are starving. Shameful
No worries. The dome is a part of the $200 million dollar convention center expansion. The business leaders will decide how to further utilize the dome.
Good luck with that...
Atleast we already have an nfl ready venue for when da league awardZ us our promised expansion team. OKC will have to construct an mid sized nfl venue for da league to award their town an expansion team. But SD can get an expansion team right now because they’ve an mid sized nfl ready venue in da SDSU new venue.
I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you...
We will used our Lawsuit Settlement to renovate our Outdated Dome and have our Metrolink System expanded to our suburbz. Da ATL Marta Train System should expand to their suburbz.
We got $790 million in da first phase of our lawsuit settlement that can be used to renovate this place
They had dirt track auto racing
I bet at night the St. Louis turf comes alive
saw several rams games there....i always called it the "morgue.".....dark and boring....horrible venue.
I’m really hoping the NFL comes back to St. Louis one day. Either with a team relocation or a new expansion team.
They won't. Game attendance for the Rams was dreadful in the years before they left.
@@Matt92Machine well their attendance is twice as pathetic now and they just won the super bowl. That would not happen here I can promise u that
@@Matt92Machine by attendance I mean home fans but sure away fans are buyin tickets like wildfire💀
@@kylecusac St Louis lost both the rams and cardinals. Lmao rams attendance even in STL would be taken over by teams close by. I’ve been a rams fan all my life don’t act like the rams had a massive home field advantage in STL when bulger was QB😂
@@97NikeSb when they were great that dome was feared. it’s not gonna be feared when the team playing like ass for like a decade. Especially when people realized the owner clearly didn’t give to fucks ab us here
Da league should gone expand to our city and SD both of our townz were mistreated in our relocation lawsuit against da league. Award OKC and Portland or Omaha in da future.
Da Jagz/Chargerz Movez makez sense becuz da Chargerz/Chiefz will both be located in da Show Me $t@t3; ‘N Could Become An gr8T !N-$T@T3 R!lv@ry. Da Jagz will be clos3 division rival$ Tit@nz/Colt$ if they relocated 2 da Show Me $t@t3 0v3r L0nd0n.
Give it $300M Renovation ‘n an legit expansion team ‘n it will become an top-tier legit venue again!!!
No need. That NFL team will probably leave you guys again 😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Go Battlehawks😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
It was a horrible facility. Kroenke used it as part of his excuse to move the rams. He was going to move the team anyway...but this joke of a stadium made it easier for him to do it. It was underbuilt from the beginning. They built it as a convention center first (to be able to get support to have it built). Football was secondary. It didn't do well serving either purpose. They would have been better off spending the extra few million to build it bigger and better from the beginning.
It was so underbuilt that the roof and roof lighting was too low...and on some kickoffs...the ball would hit the light fixtures. 🤦
The rams belong in la regardless what the stadium looks like
Negative!!!!
That stadium was bad from the word go!
Next do a video how the city sued the fuck out of the Rams and the NFL after they left. And won $790M.
DA Bear's didn't like playing in St. Louis,L.A. weather and Stadium are much nicer;Go New York Yankees,lol
What are you even blabbing about. It’s like nonsense sentences.
the xfl is coming back and with it the st.louis battlehawks.....im glad the scrams left
No one cares about the XFL, it's as fake and phony as Dwayne The Rock Johnson and the WWE. Glad the Rams came back home and won us a Super Bowl title in the best venue in the world, SoFi Stadium.
@@sjdrifter72 lol whatever you say dude 🤣 😂
Temporary housing. The Ram’s are back where they belong.
Glad they left. Rams should of never left Los Angeles
I agree I was happy when the Rams came back home to Los Angeles if St. Louis wants NFL Football again then relocate the Bills there and we’ll be in business think about the rivalry it be for the 2 cities just like Dodgers vs Cardinals the Rams and Bills could have that same rivalry.
What an ugly stadium.
Glad the Rams in L.A have a very beautiful and modern stadium.
This is an accurate assessment of what actually happened and why the Rams left. Contrary to what STL is trying to portray... Oh and by the way, that open-air stadium near the Mississippi River that STL offered to build the Rams, required a substantial financial investment from both Mr Kroenke and the NFL.
$300 million from the NFL when they never give more than $100 million . In other words they had no plan
Its in a horrible location to begin with. The noise inside was terrible. The location site for the proposed new stadium when the city was going to build a new stadium was even worse than where the dome sits today. Limited parking was awful and the street access from major highways was just not suitable. If The Lou, is going to entertain the thought of a NFL expansion team, build the facility in the county away from the downtown local district. Thats Busch Stadiums backyard. Always has been. I wish the best for The Lou on getting another NFL team but the dome was just awful.
Not to point out the obvious, but the dome is a couple blocks from busch with the same parking and highway access...also metrolink
Do you people even live in St. Louis? You can clearly tell it’s a fucking football stadium.
First
The problem is St.Louis is a dying city; in the last 100 years, the St.Louis population has dropped from 850,000 people to 295,000 people. The citizens of St.Louis cannot flee the city fast enough.
If the stadium was even halfway decent it would have hosted a Super Bowl
The NFL don't want to give Georgia Frontiere any Super Bowl game in St Louis
St Louis is a terrible city. No corporate $$$ to purchase suites or support a team. Yes, maybe 30,000 at the Cardinals baseball venue. Not NFL football.
St. Louis is thriving since they left. meanwhile la is a miserable city
I wouldn't say thriving but it's looking a little more optimistic