This week the group assembled by Governor Jay Nixon will be at NFL headquarters in New York City to make a presentation to the NFL Owners Committee. The group is led by Dave Peacock and Bob Blitz. During the meetings, the St. Louis NFL Task Force will update the NFL about the schedule of the North Riverfront Stadium Project.
NFL Vice President Eric Grubman said not to read too much into St. Louis making a presentation in New York. Okay Mr. Grubman. I gotcha.
And as this melodrama continue plays out in other markets besides our own, I feel good about the future of football in St. Louis.
Why? It’s because of Dave Peacock.
Governor Nixon was applauded by some for making Peacock the front man, while disappearing into a political bunker like Dick Cheney in the 2012 election. In order for the Rams to have any chance of staying here, the tandem of Blitz and Peacock were summoned and appear to be holding more than their own. I’ve been told by a few people in the know about the cachet that Peacock has, and it brings a certain level of confidence in the North Riverfront Stadium Project from powers that be in the NFL.
Most people who’ve heard of Peacock point to his success while working for Anheuser-Busch. But, there’s more to him than that. He has a reputation for getting deals done. A December 2013 Business Journal profile mentioned him as one of the people working behind the scenes to keep the Rams in St. Louis, 13 months prior to the first unveiling of drawings for a new open-air stadium on the riverfront.
The article lists several boards where he was serving, including the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the United Way of Greater St. Louis, CityRiverArch2015, Cardinal Glennon Foundation, Boy Scouts, Ministries@Work, Ronnoco Coffee and Schnucks Markets. He’s helped raise $100 million for the Gateway Arch grounds redevelopment.
But, the quote from the Frank Viverito, president of the St. Louis Sports Commission, says it all: “Dave can pick up the phone and call the president of ESPN, or commissioner of the NFL or MLB or the CEO of any Civic Progress company.”
He’s a serious power broker. And he always seems to have a nice counter punch whenever Rams owner Stan Kroenke unveils something else about his stadium to be in Inglewood, California. The psyche of Rams fans and the city needs it. It keeps them off the ledge.
On insidesocal.com, Vincent Bonsignore writes that NFL Vice President Eric Grubman visited both Oakland and San Diego and delivered pretty much the same message: “With Los Angeles beckoning, time isn’t just of the essence to get something done, it’s rapidly running out.”
Also this week, the Carson City council will vote on the Oakland Raiders’ and San Diego Chargers’ stadium plan. The Carson City project will run neck-and-neck with Kroenke’s plan in Inglewood. I’ve reached out to city officials in both Carson City and Inglewood, and at the moment they will not comment on the current status of either stadium project.
There is a great deal of anticipation of what the NFL thinks about the presentation by the St. Louis NFL Task Force, and we’ll have to wait to find out on the next episode of “As The Stadium Turns.”
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