Earlier this month reports began to arise suggesting that the St. Louis Rams of St. Louis would soon become the Rams of Los Angeles.

Stan Kroenke, the majority owner of the Rams, who had bought property in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, a year ago, has begun receiving stadium proposals for the space, which could lead to the Rams returning to LA.

The Rams moved from LA to St. Louis when Kroenke had agreed to fund the move in 1995. The Trans World Dome, now the Edward Jones Dome, was built to house the Rams.

Now, after 20 years, the Edward Jones Dome is seen as old and antiquated as newer, more ambitious stadium designs are popping up across the country. The dome is also frequently near the bottom of NFL stadium rankings.

After stadium proposals to bring the Rams to LA began to flood in, St. Louis realized it needed a stadium proposal of its own in order to keep the Rams in St. Louis. How this calculus came to be, many of us don’t know, but one editor stated that if the city wants the Rams franchise, they need a new stadium.

The proposal that is receiving the most attention would have the Rams moving a few blocks northeast of their current location. The new stadium, and massive parking lot, is to fit snugly between Laclede’s Landing to the south, the Stan Musial Bridge to the north, Interstate 44 to the west and the Mississippi River to the east. The proposal calls for a 64,000-seat, open-air stadium that David Peacock, a task force member for the proposal, says would create 5,000 jobs for the construction – set to be completed by 2020 – and would retain 2,400 game-day jobs.

All of this is great. The location could be much worse; the area of the proposal now is relatively empty of currently used residential and commercial space. Job creation for the area is great, though game-day jobs would only provide supplementary income for St. Louis residents. The stadium design is much more modern than the Edward Jones Dome and is more in line with new NFL stadiums being built. Additionally, the stadium is also being built to hopefully accommodate a future Major League Soccer team.

However, there are some negatives to this proposal that we feel aren’t properly being addressed. The first is the cost. Anywhere between $860 and $985 million, this project will be funded through a combination of private funds and an extension of the current bond paying for the Edward Jones Dome, with about half being paid by the latter. While Peacock states there will be no new taxes, we agree that it is not very genuine to say there will be no new taxes when the plan is to continue a tax that would otherwise no longer exist.

The second concern is that his stadium could be built and the Rams could still leave for LA. It is reported that Kroenke has not been returning the city’s or the task force’s calls or emails, and it is possible that he has already made up his mind. It is unlikely that the city would build the stadium without an assurance from the Rams or the NFL that it would house an NFL team, be it the Rams or another team. A new stadium could certainly attract another NFL franchise, but it would be an expensive gamble to make without some sort of reassurance.

Overall, we think that although the state of California already has enough professional sports teams, the market for a NFL team in LA would be difficult to pass up for an owner. The Rams already have ties to LA that make such a move all the more conceivable. We’d like for the Rams to stay in St. Louis, but we have trepidations with the current plan that seeks to keep them here.