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          NFL Nation

          Taking a closer look at the St. Louis stadium naming rights deal

          • Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff WriterOct 13, 2015, 08:00 AM ET
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              Nick Wagoner is an NFL reporter at ESPN. Nick has covered the San Francisco 49ers and the NFL at ESPN since 2016, having previously covered the St. Louis Rams for 12 years, including three years (2013 to 2015) at ESPN. In his 10 years with the company, Nick has led ESPN's coverage of the Niners' 2019 Super Bowl run, Colin Kaepernick's protest, the Rams making Michael Sam the first openly gay player drafted to the NFL, Sam's subsequent pursuit of a roster spot and the team's relocation and stadium saga. You can follow Nick via Twitter @nwagoner
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          EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Last week, the St. Louis stadium task force and National Car Rental announced a 20-year, $158 million naming rights deal for the proposed north riverfront project.

          Naturally, the news stirred some optimism among those hoping the stadium is built and the Rams stay in St. Louis. Over the weekend, Forbes contributor Patrick Rishe offered a closer look at the deal and what St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke would be able to achieve in terms of a naming rights deal in Los Angeles.

          Among the tidbits in the piece:

          • The Rams' current deal with Edward Jones for the dome has an average annual value of $3.22 million. The National deal is worth $7.9 million annually, more than twice as much.

          • Farmers Insurance had a deal in place to pay a reported $700 million for naming rights on a new stadium in Los Angeles, though that's no longer on the table. It's also a clear indicator of how much more Kroenke's Inglewood palace could command.

          There's more there worth digging into as the comparisons among naming rights around the league makes for some interesting fodder. There's no doubt that Kroenke's Inglewood stadium would command far more in naming rights than anything that could be done in St. Louis. But that's also not really the point, is it?

          That's just another example of the reason Kroenke wants to move to Los Angeles in the first place. Simply put, there's more money to be made there. Of course, the chance to take the Rams and do that is not entirely his decision, which is why we continue to wait on a potential January vote for a decision on this whole ordeal.

          I.C.Y.M.I.

          A roundup of Monday's Rams stories appearing on ESPN.com. ... Five weeks in, the Rams offense is exactly as advertised and that's not a good thing. ... In the Ram-blings, we looked at how the Rams slowed Aaron Rodgers' streak of attempts without an interception. ... Running back Todd Gurley is already the focal point of the Rams offense. ... We revisited three things to watch from Sunday's matchup, where the Rams fared well and still didn't get the win.

          Elsewhere:

          John Clayton takes you on his weekly spin around the league.

          NFC West division rival Arizona is close to adding pass rusher Dwight Freeney.

          ESPN NFL Insider Mike Sando ranks the NFL's six unbeaten teams.

          At 101sports.com, Randy Karraker provides 10 takeaways from Sunday's game.

          At stltoday.com, Jeff Gordon writes that Gurley makes the Rams dangerous.