Rams' lease goes to arbitrators

ST. LOUIS -- A panel of arbitrators in St. Louis is now weighing the future of the St. Louis Rams and the Edward Jones Dome.

The NFL team and the owners of the dome, the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission, agreed to arbitration over plans to renovate the dome. The lease agreement requires the dome to be among the top quarter of all NFL stadiums by 2015 or the Rams can break the lease, raising concern they could leave St. Louis.

The arbitrators are two retired judges, one from Iowa and one from Colorado, and a labor attorney from Chicago. A ruling isn't expected for several weeks.

The CVC has proposed $124 million in renovations. A plan from the Rams would cost at least $700 million, according to CVC estimates.

-- Associated Press