ST. LOUIS — The clock might be ticking on the St. Louis Rams’ time in St. Louis, but Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has taken the offensive.

While speculation has been rampant that Rams owner Stan Kroenke has already made the decision to move the Rams back to Los Angeles, where they were before moving to St. Louis in 1995, Nixon announced Wednesday the appointment of two executives to spearhead the effort in the next 60 days to analyze the situation and report back with possible options.

Nixon named former Anheuser-Busch president David Peacock and attorney Robert Blitz, who has worked with the Edward Jones Dome authority, to do their due diligence and come up with various options “to ensure that St. Louis remains an NFL city. I think the NFL understands we are very serious here.”

Saying this is the appropriate time to go “on offense,” Nixon noted that Jan. 28 is the date the Rams have identified as when they can turn the 30-year lease for the dome into a year-to-year proposition.

The Rams have that right because of a clause in the release that mandated the dome be a “first-tier” facility in 10-year increments beginning in 2005. The Rams gave the Convention and Visitor’s Commission (CVC) a pass that year, but not so this time.

The club proposed an estimated $700 million in renovations while the CVC offered about $225 million. An arbitrator sided with the Rams, and the CVC declined, setting the stage for the lease going year-to-year.

Nixon wouldn’t be specific regarding the cost of a potential new stadium or characterize the tenor of conversations he has had with Kroenke. He did say his relationship with Kroenke is “very good” and noted how the two would sit together watching Kroenke’s son Josh play basketball at the University of Missouri.

Mostly, Nixon acknowledged that a deal won’t be easy, saying, “This can get complicated. Let’s not kid ourselves.”

However, he did say that the financing in place that funded the dome could also be used for a new facility. The dome, which was also an addition to the convention center, cost $250 million. A new facility now would approach and likely be more than $1 billion.

Nixon also insisted that his goal would be to “protect” the taxpayers and that private funds would have to be the “primary” means to finance the project. He concluded, “It’s now time to move beyond the theoretical and get into more specifics.”