St. Louis keeps showing it should have an NFL team

The UFL is struggling to put fans in the stands in seven of the cities where it plays. In one, the stands are packed.

For the third time in three home games, the St. Louis Battlehawks attracted more than 30,000 fans.

Via Mike Mitchell of SI.com, 32,969 showed up for Saturday’s 22-8 win over the Houston Roughnecks. It was the fifth win in a row for the Battlehawks.

Separately, 38,559 went to a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium on Saturday.

It raises the question of whether St. Louis should have an NFL team again. In 1960, St. Louis attracted the Cardinals from Chicago. After the Cardinals left for Arizona in 1988, St. Louis got the Rams to come to Missouri in 1995. Twenty years later — after persistent lying by the Rams and the NFL regarding the team’s intentions — the Rams went back to L.A. And St. Louis secured a $790 million settlement due in part to the tangled web of untruths.

More time might need to pass before the NFL would ever want to return to St. Louis, because anyone that ever has to pay that kind of money finds a way to blame someone other than themselves for the outcome. In turn, St. Louis might not yet be in the mood to welcome back the NFL, given its experience in the final days with the Rams.

At some point, St. Louis should be an option. Especially if St. Louis loves football enough to support the devotion of taxpayer money to the construction of a stadium.

They were willing to do it with the Rams, but owner Stan Kroenke was hellbent on moving to L. A. They might not be willing to do it again, in part because no city currently seems to be willing to do it.

Regardless, if the NFL wants to play in a place where asses will be in seats, it needs to be taking St. Louis seriously.