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A New Ballpark for Missouri
New Ballpark Frequently Asked Questions
Plans of the New Ballpark
Plans of Ballpark Village
Summary of Ballpark Project Agreement
Under an agreement signed at St. Louis City Hall, the St. Louis Cardinals will build a new publicly owned ballpark adjacent to the current site of Busch Stadium. This will keep the team in downtown St. Louis at least through the 2039 season. The ballpark will be set in a new downtown mixed-use development planned to include office space, street level shops and restaurants, residential units, parking, a new Cardinals Museum, and a world-class aquarium. This new neighborhood will be called Ballpark Village.
The total development cost will be approximately $646 million. The Cardinals and other private developers will be responsible for at least two-thirds of the total development cost. The Cardinals must acquire all of the property necessary for the development, with the assistance of the City and state of Missouri if necessary.
The Cardinals will be responsible for completing the ballpark and the entire ballpark village development including parking; residential units; office space; street level commercial and retail space; a baseball museum; and a major entertainment attraction such as a world-class aquarium. The details of these projects will be developed in future project agreements. The ballpark, however, must be sufficiently completed by April 1, 2005, to permit the Cardinals to play the 2005 baseball season there. There will be guarantees, with benchmarks and milestones, that the ballpark village will be completed.
Of the total development cost, $346 million will build a new ballpark in downtown St. Louis to accommodate 49,000 fans. The ballpark will be owned by a public entity, the Sports Center Redevelopment Authority. Thirty percent of the entire development will be built using minority owned-and women owned-businesses, consistent with all applicable federal, state and local laws, and with the Mayor's Executive Order.
The Cardinals
The Cardinals will sign a 35-year lease, with three additional five-year options to play their home games in the new ballpark.
The Cardinals will sign a non-relocation agreement and will agree to pay to the public investors a percentage of any gain resulting from the sale of all or part of the team.
The Cardinals will pay all cost overruns in the construction of the ballpark and will be responsible for all operating and maintenance expenses, as well as costs for capital improvements, for the ballpark.
The Cardinals will contribute the naming rights revenues from the ballpark to two separate funds - one benefiting the state of Missouri and one benefiting the City of St. Louis. These funds will reimburse the state and the City if the new revenues generated by the ballpark fall short of paying for the amounts appropriated by the state and the city. Excess revenues will go to the Authority.
The state of Missouri, St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis will receive certain marketing, advertising and stadium access rights for the purpose of promoting economic development and tourism.
The Cardinals will cap prices on at least 6,000 tickets per game to be priced at no more than $12.00 (as calculated in year 2000 dollars).
The Cardinals will donate at least 100,000 tickets per season to youth and charitable organizations throughout the state. In addition, the Cardinals will invest in recreational facilities to benefit disadvantaged youth in St. Louis City and St. Louis County.
The Cardinals will continue to pay all state and city school sales taxes as currently assessed. The Cardinals will make annual payments in lieu of taxes to the St. Louis Board of Education, the City of St. Louis and other taxing authorities so that the property taxes generated by the development are no less than the real property taxes paid at Busch Stadium in 2000.
The City of St. Louis
The City of St. Louis will invest a portion of the new taxes created at the ballpark and ballpark village. For 30 years beginning in 2005, the City of St. Louis will make an annual appropriation of $4.2 million. This $4.2 million will be used for debt service payments on the publicly owned ballpark, and will capitalize a $60 million city contribution towards the ballpark development costs.
If the new taxes generated by the project do not cover the City of St. Louis' annual appropriation, the City will be reimbursed from its naming rights fund. The City will have the same lookback intervals as the state.
The City of St. Louis will reduce the special admissions tax on the gross revenue of all ticket sales in excess of $85 million a year to 1.5 percent.
The City of St. Louis will continue to collect and retain 100 percent of its share of all other taxes.
St. Louis County
For 30 years, St. Louis County will contribute revenue annually from the existing County Convention & Recreation Trust Fund. The amount will begin at $2 million in 2003, and increase by 3 percent each year. That contribution will capitalize a $40 million county investment in the ballpark development.
State of Missouri
For 30 years, beginning in July 2005, the state of Missouri will appropriate not more than $7 million annually. This amount will capitalize a maximum state contribution of $100 million towards the ballpark development costs.
No state sales tax revenue generated specifically for education (Proposition C - 1% sales tax), or conservation and natural resources (.025% sales tax) will be used to fund the new ballpark.
State funding for the new ballpark will be used for construction purposes only.
The state of Missouri's appropriation will be based on new sales and withholding tax revenue generated by the stadium project. At no time during the 30-year funding cycle will the state of Missouri receive less in sales and withholding tax revenues than it did in 1999.
After the first seven years, and then every five years thereafter, the State will determine whether it has received sufficient tax revenues to pay for the annual appropriations made to the stadium project. If, at any of these lookback intervals, the State has received less in new revenue from taxes than it appropriated for that period, the State will be reimbursed from its naming rights fund.
All Parties
The Governor, the Mayor of the City of St. Louis, the St. Louis County Executive and the owners of the St. Louis Cardinals agree to use their absolute best efforts to obtain passage of all legislation necessary to make this redevelopment a reality.
New Ballpark Frequently Asked Questions
Plans of the New Ballpark
Plans of Ballpark Village
New Ballpark Photo Gallery
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Busch Stadium
250 Stadium Plaza
St. Louis, MO 63102
(314) 421-3060
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