Lease deal could hold key to Rams' future

ST. LOUIS -- For a town with an already fragile psyche when it comes to the NFL, news that the Rams might be on the sale block left St. Louis shaken.

But the team's future may come down to whether there is a willingness to spend millions upgrading the Edward Jones Dome or even build a new stadium.

Yahoo Sports reported Tuesday that the Rams are being shopped for up to $900 million in the wake of the January death of longtime owner Georgia Frontiere, who moved the team from southern California to her hometown of St. Louis in 1995.

The report raised concern here that for the second time in a little more than two decades, St. Louis could lose an NFL franchise.

St. Louis has nothing to worry about in the short term. A lease agreement requires the Rams to remain at the dome through 2015. The problem comes after that.

To lure the Rams, civic leaders agreed to a deal requiring that the dome remains among the top quarter of all NFL stadiums. The next measuring date is 2015.

-- The Associated Press