RENEGING ON STADIUM DEAL WOULD BE COSTLY TO STATE'S BOND RATING

Not long after the National Football League announced two weeks ago that it was awarding a team franchise to Jacksonville, talk of the Missouri General Assembly scrapping its financial obligation to the ongoing construction of a domed stadium at St. Louis began circulating. It would be a mistake for the state to do so.

St. Louis was in the running for one of two franchises that were awarded by the NFL this year. The other went to Charlotte, and St. Louis was left out in the cold -- with a $360 million combination stadium and convention center that is scheduled for completion in 1995.

The 70,000-capacity stadium was, and still is, considered a key draw for a NFL team. While St. Louis may not have landed an expansion team, indications are that an existing team, the New England Patriots, could be sold to St. Louis investors and moved to the Gateway City.

Even if that doesn't happen, it's hard to believe that some other team wouldn't consider a move to St. Louis, or that St. Louis would not still be considered for a future team. A facility like the one being built would be hard to pass up once it's completed.

Regardless of whether St. Louis gets a NFL team, the state owes it to the taxpayers to continue its financing of the stadium. We offer two reasons: Firstly, it must protect the state's excellent credit rating, and reneging on a plan the legislature embarked upon in 1989 to provide long-term financing would jeopardize the state's bond rating; and secondly, the stadium is a financially solid venture regardless of whether pro football is played in it because it would be used for trade shows, conventions and many other revenue-producing events.

So far the state has paid $25 million under the plan that calls for Missouri to pay half of the costs and St. Louis city and county the other half. Starting with the 1995 budget year, which begins July 1, the state will pay approximately $12 million a year until 2021.

Sen. Norman Merrell, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, foresees a tough fight in the legislature next year over whether the state should allocate the $12 million. Merrell and other members of the committee have voiced strong support for continued funding. So has Gov. Mel Carnahan.

Merrell and the other committee members said if the state defaults, it could cause its high bond rating to go down, which in turn would push up the cost of borrowing. Sens. Mike Lybyer and Fred Dyer are among those who agree. "We have to be careful because it could affect the state's bond rating," said Lybyer. Said Dyer: "We have to honor our commitment. Once we make an obligation, we have to go with it."

On the House side, Budget Committee chairman Chris Kelly also is concerned about the consequences of the state reneging. "We're so far into it that if you cut back, you do serious harm to the state's credit rating," Kelly said.

The governor doesn't want the state to stop paying its share of the costs. "We are really bound by the past administration's actions to do that," he said of former governor John Ashcroft's support of the plan. "We have a contractual responsibility, which I think requires us to go forward," said Carnahan.

The governor also pointed to the economic benefits of the stadium and convention center even without a NFL team. Expounding on that was Frank Viverito of the regional Convention and Visitors Commission in St. Louis.

Viverito pointed out that many of football's 10 home games are in the fall, one of the busiest times for the convention industry. During game weeks, the stadium's floor space would not be available for use by conventions, shows and other events, he said.

He explained: If a convention brings 10,000 people from out of town to use that facility on a weekend that would otherwise be used for football, they will occupy 5,000 hotel rooms, provide four solid days of convention hall rental and concession sales and use a large number of restaurant tables, limousines, cab rides and plane tickets. Football rarely draws more than 5 percent of its crowd from out of town, and that adds up to about 3,500 out-of-towners for a sellout game. They aren't likely to stay as long in St. Louis as convention visitors would.

A NFL team for St. Louis is not a certainty, but a fine facility to help attract one while it pays for itself by hosting many other events is, only if the General Assembly fulfills its responsibility and continues to finance the facility. Risking the state's credit rating by not doing so would be much more risky than scrapping the entire plan.