St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission Statement on Temporary Bleachers

For Immediate Release

For more information, contact:
Anthony Paraino
314-992-0654

St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission Statement on Temporary Bleachers

The following is a statement from the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission regarding the story “St. Louis paying $13K a month to store old NCAA bleachers.

Statement from the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission regarding the temporary bleachers at the Edward Jones Dome.  This statement is in response to a recent KTVI report, which contained some inaccurate information.

Used for the NCAA regionals in 2002, 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2012, and the 2005 Final Four, the bleachers helped us host these enormously successful events generating an estimated $152 million in economic impact for St. Louis region.  In 2001, the Regional Sports Authority and the St. Louis CVC purchased basketball risers for the Edward Jones Dome at a cost of $3.4 million for exclusive use in hosting NCAA Men's Basketball tournament events.  Since that time, the St. Louis CVC has paid approximately $1.7 million in storage fees, which have been part of our ongoing operational budget for the Edward Jones Dome.  The bleachers allowed the dome to host basketball events in what is referred to as a "half-dome" configuration.  They were temporary, stored off-site and installed only as needed.  

During the most recent Final Four bidding process in 2014 (for the years of 2017-2021), we learned that the NCAA had changed its policy of using "half-dome" configurations for their regional events.  Going forward, NCAA regionals will be held in 20,000-seat arenas (like the Scottrade Center) and Final Fours will be in domes using full stadium set-ups with the risers or bleachers provided by the NCAA.  Very simply, there is no longer a practical use for the bleachers at the Edward Jones Dome, as they were purchased for use in hosting these specific events.  Upon learning this news from the NCAA last year, we began the process of trying to sell or donate them. Unfortunately, since they are designed specifically for our building, we found no interested buyers or anyone interested in acquiring them.  As it makes no sense to store them and incur unnecessary costs, the SLCVC brought the request to dispose of them to the RSA, as they were the primary purchaser.  The RSA and SLCVC both agreed months ago to dispose of them through a local recycler.