The St. Louis Rams have submitted plans to upgrade the Edward Jones Dome, a key step to making sure the team doesn't leave town.
The team turned in its counterproposal on Tuesday, declining to release details. The plan was given to the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission, the operator of the dome that announced its own plan in February. The CVC said it will begin the review process, but spokeswoman Donna Andrews declined further comment.
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The Rams can legally break its 30-year lease after the 2014 season if the dome is not deemed to be among the top tier of NFL stadiums.
Rams owner Stan Kroenke has been non-committal about the team's future in St. Louis if the dome is not upgraded, creating concern that St. Louis could lose an NFL team for the second time in a quarter of a century.
There is concern in St. Louis that Kroenke could move the team back to Los Angeles. Kroenke, a real estate mogul whose wife is a Wal-Mart heir, is a Missouri native but has ties to California, too. He owns an estate in Malibu, Calif., and recently made an unsuccessful bid to purchase baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Rams rejected a CVC plan that included $124 million in improvements, featuring a massive scoreboard measuring 96 feet long, new club seats, windows to add natural light and even a 50,000-square-foot attachment with a "Geek Suite" area for electronic buffs and fantasy football players.
But the CVC plan called for the team to pay 52 percent of the cost, or about $64.5 million Taxpayers in St. Louis city and county would have been asked to pick up the rest of the cost or some $60 million.
Under the lease, the two sides now have until June 15 to try and reach an agreement. Otherwise, arbitration begins. The arbitration process could last through the end of the year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
