The Dome at America's Center

NFL playoff football

The Dome hosted five NFC playoff games, including the 1999 and 2001 NFC Championship Games, both of which the Rams won. The previous franchise, the St. Louis Cardinals, never hosted a playoff game in their history with the city (1960–1987); all of the playoff games they played came on the road.

Concerts

Professional soccer

The Dome hosted a soccer match on August 10, 2013, when Real Madrid and Internazionale played a friendly game in front of 54,184 fans, a record attendance for a soccer match in St. Louis.^[9]

College basketball

In April 2005, the Edward Jones Dome hosted the 2005 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament Final Four. Louisville, Illinois, Michigan State and North Carolina met, with North Carolina winning the title game against Illinois.

The Dome has hosted an NCAA Men's Basketball Regional four times. In 2004, the St. Louis Regional saw Georgia Tech defeat Kansas in a final that required overtime. Tech had previously defeated Nevada while KU became the first team (and the only one to date) to score 100 points in a college basketball game in the building in its regional semifinal win over UAB. The Dome also hosted the 2007 Midwest Regional, where Florida, en route to winning its second consecutive national championship, defeated Butler and then Oregon, who had defeated UNLV in the other regional semifinal. In 2010, Michigan State eliminated Northern Iowa, and Tennessee knocked off Ohio State, before MSU beat UT to move on to the Final Four. In 2012, North Carolina beat Ohio University and Kansas defeated NC State University. In the regional final, KU defeated UNC to advance to the Final Four.

College football

The Edward Jones Dome hosted the first Big 12 Conference football championship game in 1996 (Nebraska versus Texas). The third game, in 1998, was also held in the Dome (Kansas State versus Texas A&M). The Dome has also been a neutral site for regular-season college football matchups between the University of Illinois and the University of Missouri, promoted locally as the "Arch Rivalry". Missouri has won all six games (2002, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009 & 2010).

MSHSAA Show-Me Bowl

The Dome held the annual Missouri State High School Activities Association football championship games from 1996–2015. The Show-Me Bowl had previously been contested at Faurot Field in Columbia, Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Robert W. Plaster Stadium in Springfield and Busch Memorial Stadium. With the Rams' departure and the effective end of football at the facility, the MSHSAA voted to return to rotating hosts, with Springfield getting the 2016 championship and Columbia in 2017.

Legends of the Dome game

On Saturday, July 23, 2016, the Isaac Bruce Foundation hosted a charity flag football game to raise money for the Isaac Bruce Foundation and relive great memories from the Rams' time in St. Louis. Many members of the Greatest Show on Turf including Kurt Warner, Dick Vermeil, Mike Martz, Torry Holt, Ricky Proehl, Az Hakim, Marc Bulger, Orlando Pace, Aeneas Williams, and many others were among the players and coaches involved. At halftime, 2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame and longtime Rams All-Pro left tackle Orlando Pace was honored. Retired Navy Petty Officer Generald Wilson performed the National Anthem. The former "Voice of the Rams" Steve Savard called the game live on 101 ESPN radio in St. Louis. 10,600 fans were on hand for the game.

Religious conferences

Currently, the building hosts the annual Joyce Meyer Ministries Love Life Women's Conference, attended by 10,000 to 20,000 women each year. The building also host the Church of God in Christ's annual Holy Convocation. Other major religious conventions/conferences include:

• It became the site of the biggest indoor gathering in United States history, on January 27, 1999 when Pope John Paul II held mass in the stadium. Over 104,000 people attended.
• In 1999 the Rev. Billy Graham held The Greater St. Louis Billy Graham Crusade with well over 200,000 people attending throughout the four days. Michael W. Smith and Kirk Franklin were among the musical artists that performed.
• In 2005, the Dome hosted the General Conference Session of Seventh-day Adventists.
• In 2007, the Nazarene Youth Conference was held at the stadium.
• Since 2009, the Dome has been the host of the International Holy Convocation of the Church of God in Christ
• The InterVarsity Christian Fellowship Urbana missions conference, held every 3 years, has been held at the Dome since 2006. It returns from December 27–31, 2018.
• The Dome also hosted the 85th annual General Conference of The United Pentecostal Church International on September 30 – October 4, 2009.
• The Dome will host the North American Youth Congress, a biennial gathering of young people via the General Youth Division of the United Pentecostal Church International from July 31 – August 2, 2019.

VP Racing Fuels Gateway Dirt Nationals

• The Dome hosted the first ever Gateway Dirt Nationals on December 16–17, 2016, featuring late model and modified events on a ¹⁄₅ mile (0.32 km) dirt track, the largest indoor oval track in the United States.^[10] Nearly 100 Open Late Models and 130 Open Modifieds entered in the three day event. The race surface, built in four days, was a 1/5th mile banked oval. Late Model driver Scott Bloomquist captured the $20,000 to win main event in front of nearly 15,000 spectators, but not to be out done by the pass from Shannon Babb on Bloomquist during the Friday night main event with Jason Feger and Darrell Langian running close behind with only two laps remaining. Open Modified driver Tommie Seets Jr. captured the $10,000 to win main event.
• The 2nd Gateway Dirt Nationals took place on December 14–16, 2017, and again featured late model and modifieds. Thursday night, Shannon Babb took the win in the first annual late models "Race of Champions." Friday night, Tanner Mullens won the Modified main event, locking himself into Saturday night's main event. In the late models, 17 year-old Hudson O'Neal captured the first of 2 main events. The second late model feature on Friday night saw Gordy Gundaker capture the win. Saturday night Bobby Pierce picked up the $30,000 check in the late model main event. In the modifieds Ray Bollinger picked up the $10,000 to win A-Main. It was announced that the 3rd Annual Gateway Dirt Nationals would take place November 29, 30th, and December 1, 2018.

Other events

• From 2011 through 2017, the Dome hosted the World Championship of the FIRST Robotics Competition. 600 teams from around the world qualify annually to compete in the championship held in mid-April. The FIRST LEGO League World Festival and FIRST Tech Challenge Championship occur at the same time, in nearby venues.
• The Dome hosted the Nerium International's Spring Conference in April 2014; and the 35th and 37th Annual Herbalife Extravaganza in July 2015 and 2017 respectively.
• The Music for All Bands of America St. Louis Super-Regional championships has been held annually at the Dome since 1997.
• The Dome hosted an AMA Supercross Championship round since 1996.^[11]
• In 1998, the Dome was home to the largest pro wrestling crowd in Missouri state history ^[12] when WCW broadcast a live Monday Nitro event on TNT. Nearly 30,000 attended live, braving an ice storm to attend. WCW would return on May 9, 1999 with a Pay-Per-View event titled "Slamboree", which drew 20,516 fans.
• The Dome also hosts Monster Jam events every year as well as a round of the Stadium Super Truck series.^[13]
• The Dome hosted Drum Corps International's inaugural 'DCI Midwestern Championship' on July 15, 2018.^[14]

The lease and poor rankings

Under the terms of the lease that the Rams signed in 1995, the Dome was required to be ranked in the top quartile of NFL stadiums through 2015, measured at 10 year intervals. This meant the Dome had to have the proper fan amenities and other features found in modern NFL stadiums. If the building was not ranked in the top quartile, the Rams were free to break the lease and either relocate without penalty or continue to lease the Dome on a year-to-year basis.^[15][16][17]

Not helping matters was the Dome's poor reception with NFL fans and the general public as the years went by. Even after the 2010 renovations many websites ranking the 31 NFL stadiums listed the Dome near the bottom of their respective rankings.^[18][19] In 2008, for a Sports Illustrated poll, St. Louis fans ranked it the worst out of any NFL stadium at the time with particularly low marks for tailgating, affordability and atmosphere. Time magazine in May 2012 ranked the Dome as the 7th worst major sports stadium in the United States.^[20][21]

In 2005, the rankings indicated that the dome was no longer in the top quartile as mandated by the lease, which gave the Rams the right to begin the process of breaking the lease, or reverting to a year-to-year. The Rams, wishing to afford St. Louis ample opportunity to meet the quartile requirement, instead agreed to waive this right for the 2005 checkpoint in return for $30 million of renovations and improvements. However, both the Rams and city leaders realized at this time that long-term, the Dome needed a major overhaul or St. Louis would again risk losing the Rams after 2015.

Negotiations

With the 2015 checkpoint looming, the Convention and Visitor Center (the stadium's operator) and the Rams negotiated throughout 2012 on the renovations and agreed to go into arbitration in 2013 if a deal was not worked out in which three arbitrators mutually agreed on from the American Arbitration Association to arbitrate the case in 2013.^[22]

In January 2012, the CVC proposed $48 million in improvements including a new 947-vehicle garage all funded publicly with the Rams keeping the garage game day revenue.^[22] After the Rams rejected the $48 million deal the CVC next proposed $124 million in renovations including a new three-story structure on Baer Plaza on the east side facing the Mississippi River for a main entrance as well as new suites. This proposal had the Rams picking up $64 million of that project, the CVC citing an approximate percentage of what other NFL teams had chipped in for on similar renovations.^[22] The Rams countered with a $700 million proposal that called for much of the stadium to be rebuilt including a sliding roof panel and a new four-sided center scoreboard, the Rams asserting that this would satisfy the "first tier" top quartile requirement relative to the current NFL stadium landscape. No details on how to pay for the renovations were made.^[22] The sides did not hammer out an agreement in 2012 and the matter went into arbitration hearings in January 2013. Officials noted that even if the arbitrators decide on implementing a more expensive plan and the CVC was unable to fund it the Rams would still be able to break the lease.^[23]

With no agreement between both sides in 2013 there was considerable speculation on the future of both the Rams and the stadium with some^[24] suggesting the Rams could return to Los Angeles. Further pressure for St. Louis to resolve the issue was that bonds for construction of the Dome were still being paid and will continue to be paid through 2021. Missouri will pay $12 million/year and St. Louis City and St. Louis County will pay $6 million/year each.^[25]

On February 1, 2013, the arbitrators ruled in favor of the Rams' $700 million proposal to tear down half the Dome and replace it as the only way among the options presented to bring the Dome up to first tier status. Various city and county officials said it was unlikely that public funding would be found for such a project. Officials noted that the Rams were contractually obligated to play in the Dome until March 15, 2015, and there was no "buy out" provision to permit the Rams to move before then. City and county officials said they were considering all options including construction of a new stadium elsewhere in the St. Louis area. Rams officials, meanwhile, indicated their preference to stay in St. Louis.^[26]

The St. Louis Regional Convention (the stadium's owner) and Sports Complex Authority hired Goldman Sachs in February 2013 "to keep the Rams in the Dome, or, if that's not possible, to maintain a National League Football team in St. Louis." An attorney for St. Louis noted that Goldman had "financed or advised on the financing of every NFL stadium recently built."^[27] In April 2013, it was reported by the Wall Street Journal that the arrangement was being scrutinized by the Securities and Exchange Commission as new Dodd-Frank rules restrict firms from offering financial advice to municipalities where it also underwrites its municipal bond transactions.^[28] Eventually the hiring fell through and nothing resulted from it.

On July 2, 2013, the CVC announced that they were rejecting the Rams' renovation proposal.^[29] Missouri governor Jay Nixon had been negotiating with owner Stan Kroenke since the decision had been made.^[30] The earliest the Rams could have broken the lease on the Dome would've been following the 2014 season, but they chose not to do so in 2014.

Inglewood purchase

On January 31, 2014, both the Los Angeles Times and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Stan Kroenke purchased approximately 60 acres of land adjacent to the Forum in Inglewood, California. Commissioner Roger Goodell represented that Mr. Kroenke informed the league of the purchase. Kroenke subsequently announced plans to build an NFL stadium on the site, in connection with the owners of the adjacent 238-acre Hollywood Park site, Stockbridge Capital Group.^[31] This development further fueled rumors that the Rams intended to return its management and football operations to Southern California. The land was initially targeted for a Walmart Supercenter but Walmart could not get the necessary permits to build it. On January 5, 2015, The Los Angeles Times reported that Stan Kroenke and Stockbridge Capital Group were partnering up in developing a new NFL stadium on the Inglewood property owned by Kroenke. The project included a stadium with up to 80,000 seats and a performance venue of up to 6,000 seats while reconfiguring the previously approved Hollywood Park plan for up to 890,000 square feet of retail, 780,000 square feet of office space, 2,500 new residential units, a 300-room hotel and 25 acres of public parks, playgrounds, open space and pedestrian and bicycle access. The stadium would likely be ready by 2019.

In lieu of this St. Louis countered with a stadium plan on the north riverfront area of downtown, known as National Car Rental Field, with the hope of persuading Kroenke to keep the Rams in the city. However, on February 24, 2015, the Inglewood City Council approved the stadium and the initiative with construction planned to begin in December 2015. ^[32][33]

This generated further debate between the NFL, St. Louis, and the Rams as to whether the Rams should be allowed to relocate when an "first tier" stadium plan was in process. The NFL and the Rams countered that the stadium plan was developed outside of the agreed-upon lease and "first tier" remediation and arbitration process, and therefore could not be considered a binding factor in preventing the Rams from relocating. In addition, the NFL and the Rams expressed concerns over the funding and maintenance of the proposed stadium, which they felt shifted too much of the costs of construction and maintenance to the Rams organization. Ultimately, as the Inglewood stadium would be built without taxpayer subsidy, that effectively sealed the fate of the Rams in St. Louis.

The Rams leave St. Louis

The Rams formally filed their request to leave St. Louis for Los Angeles on January 4, 2016.^[34] On January 12, the NFL approved the Rams' request for relocation to Los Angeles for the 2016 NFL season.^[35] Once the team left, Missouri taxpayers shouldered the remaining $144 million in debt and maintenance costs on the stadium until the debt is paid off in 2021.^[36][37] Since that point, the Dome has mainly been used for concerts and events overflow from America's Center, including the September 18, 2018 St. Louis stop for Taylor Swift's Reputation Stadium Tour.