Austin Huguelet | Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS — A nascent push to renovate Busch Stadium could get a big boost from the state’s billion-dollar plan to keep Kansas City’s sports teams from bolting over Missouri’s western border.
For more than a year, Cardinals ownership has been studying the needs of the stadium as it comes up on its 20th birthday next year. Now, a bill approved by the Missouri Senate could have the state cover half the cost of any project of more than $500 million.
“We weren’t going to leave the east side of the state out,” said Sen. Kurtis Gregory, the central Missouri Republican and former Mizzou lineman carrying the stadium bill. “I’m the guy that if the Royals don’t make the playoffs, I’m cheering for the Cardinals.”
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The downtown ballpark is one of the Cardinals’ most cherished assets and the driver of a vital revenue source: the millions of tickets it sells each year.
Protecting that asset has become more important with the economics in Major League Baseball in flux. Lucrative cable television fees are declining. Sports gambling is on the rise. New owners with deep pockets have pushed the salaries of the best players into the stratosphere.
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Fans donned ponchos and rain coats during a weather delay ahead of the Cardinals’ game against the Dodgers at Busch Stadium on Friday, June 6, 2025. Eli Randolph, Post-Dispatch
Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III has laid out plenty of things to upgrade at the downtown ballpark, from the seats to the floors to the clubhouse. Last year, he said the club could seek taxpayer help to get it done. After all, taxpayers contributed to building the stadium.
But until recently, no one was publicly offering.
On Friday, DeWitt was careful not to declare anything, noting the stadium bill still needs votes in the Missouri House.
But he acknowledged it could help. He reiterated his argument that the deal that built the stadium paid off for everyone.
“And,” he said, “we would certainly work towards trying to make sure that that was the case in any big renovation project as well.”
The deal last time worked like this: The Cardinals borrowed most of the roughly $400 million needed to build Busch Stadium III from private sources. They got a $45 million loan from St. Louis County and $42 million in tax credits, plus other help, from the state. The city froze property taxes for the stadium at 2000 levels and eliminated an entertainment tax on Cardinals tickets that brought in about $5 million in its final fiscal year.
The Cardinals argue it’s been a clear success. The stadium is a good place to watch a ballgame. It’s helped them make more money. And they’ve paid more taxes on that money.
Adjusted for inflation, average annual payments to the city from Busch Stadium operations since opening in 2006 have been a half-million dollars more than the average from 1997-2005. The payments to the state have been $8 million more.
But since last year, the Cardinals have been talking about the money-making machine showing some wear, despite spending millions of dollars per year on updates and fixes.
The 45,000 seats are nearing the end of their expected lifespans, and there are cooler, more comfortable options available. Some of the all-inclusive clubs, which generate outsized revenue, need a reset. The clubhouse needs an upgrade to keep players comfortable and keep pace with advances in technology helping players train and recover from games and injuries.
At the same time, the electrical system and chillers that power the air conditioning are aging. And the elevators are nearing the end of their useful life.
The bill now in front of the Legislature is focused on keeping the Kansas City Royals and Chiefs in Missouri. But the language — which applies to stadiums with more than 30,000 seats for a professional baseball or football team — means the Cardinals can access the money, too.
The bill could actually give the Cardinals more money for Busch renovations than it gave for construction.
The bill contemplates essentially using the tax dollars paid by teams every year to pay down renovation loans for up to 30 years. The Cardinals report paying $25.6 million in state taxes from their stadium in 2022 — which could net a few hundred million dollars for renovations after interest costs are considered.
There are caveats. Those proceeds can only cover half of the cost of a project. Moreover, before issuing hundreds of millions of dollars in bonds, state officials would have to be “satisfied” there is sufficient investment from local government to support infrastructure or other needs generated by a project.
Last week, St. Louis leaders were noncommittal.
“Depends on the details,” said Mayor Cara Spencer.
“I don’t want to cut off integral tax revenue generated from that stadium,” said Aldermanic President Megan Green.
Alderman Michael Browning said he disliked the concept of government aid for stadiums. “The Cardinals,” he said, “make enough money.”
DeWitt emphasized that no project has been proposed. But a formal study of the stadium’s needs, which kicked off last year, will be done by the end of this year.
DeWitt said there is likely enough to do to reach the threshold set in the pending bill, noting projects at stadiums in Milwaukee and Baltimore are moving toward renovations with price tags in that ballpark.
“It remains to be seen,” he said, “but it’s possible.”
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Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray speaks with the media on Friday, June 6, 2025, after a series-opening win over the Dodgers at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. (Video by Ethan Erickson, Post-Dispatch)
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