APIt wasn’t a coincidence when Rams owner Stan Kroenke started buying enough land in Southern California to build a stadium on.
According to Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times, the news that seemed inevitable is out — Kroenke plans to build an NFL stadium in Inglewood, near the site of the old Hollywood Park race track.
The announcement came as part of a plan presented in conjunction with Stockbridge Capital Group, which is developing a 238-acre site at Hollywood Park near the 60 acres Kroenke bought previously.
That parcel might not have been big enough on its own, but now he has plenty of room.
This also creates a put-up or shut-up moment for St. Louis, since he can turn his lease there to a year-to-year affair soon. Local officials are trying to put together a stadium plan to keep the Rams where they’ve been since 1995.
But it appears Kroenke is ready to put a shovel in the ground and take them back to their roots.
Now this billionaire just needs to let us know how much public money he needs.
So the Rams are coming back to Cleveland? Sweet, maybe with 2 teams the odds of winning a title go up just a little bit.
PS- Their roots started in Cleveland before they went to L.A.
Anheuser-Busch is a Belgian owned company.
The problem to me with ANY NFL team in LA is the same one that caused the Rams (and Raiders) to move from LA to St. Louis (and Oakland respectively) following the 1994 season: THE LAKERS.
Since the “Showtime” days of the 1980’s and for many years before that even, Los Angeles has been a LAKERS town first and the only city where the NBA trumps the NFL. People there live and die with the Lakers first and foremost, even during a period like now where the Lakers are a disaster and the Clippers are rising. On the other hand, even in their heyday (in the 1970’s when they won seven straight NFC West titles and got to a Super Bowl in January 1980) and before the Raiders moved to LA for the 1982 season, the Rams had major problems selling out and the Raiders had the same problems, even after capacity in the LA Coliseum was shrunk considerably for the 1993 and ’94 seasons.
The Rams, or any team for that matter in LA would likely be still dealing with many of the same problems that caused the Rams and Raiders to leave 20 years ago, even with the NFL the 800-pound gorilla of sports. The Dodgers have always been a strong second while USC and UCLA Football have generally always been third and fourth. The Clippers and Kings with recent success are fast-rising as well.
The only people to me who REALLY want a team in LA are the network executives, mainly so stars of the network shows can “be seen at the game” like we see celebs at Lakers (and also Clippers and Kings) games. I just don’t see LA caring enough about the NFL to bring a team back there.
Good take those pathetic loses to LA, they will fit in well there. While you’re at it take all the protesting Canadians with.you.
The team never should have been moved in the first place. That being said, it is a shame that St. Louis will most likely lose their NFL team. Even though I do think the Rams would draw more of an audience if they stayed in St. Louis, than if they move back to California.
Good for him. Nobody in St. Louis cares about the Rams anyway.
St. Louis? Ain’t that near Ferguson where the boys are out rioting every night? I’d get out of there too if I could.
There goes ticket sales in Saint Louis.
What does this have to do with the N.F.L. Scamming the American public with another fixed football game for financial gain. The Detroit Lions should get an injunction to halt further playoff action. A lengthy court procedure is what’s needed at this point.
Hopefully, at some point, the franchise relocation carousel will stop.
Yea!! Said no one living in LA…….
0nly 4 winning seasons in the 20 years they were in STL. Still, it hurts to lose them. UGH!
So, he wants St. Louis pony up for a new stadium or upgrade the current stadium and if he doesn’t get it he will go build one himself in LA and deal with a bigger market, more taxes and a couple hundred million dollar fee for relocation and its associated costs. Makes sense.
….drops the mic
#ramsnation
Just win, and they will come.
Nothing against the city of St. Louis, but they have more bandwagon fans than Seattle.
“This also creates a put-up or shut-up moment for St. Louis, since he can turn his lease there to a year-to-year affair soon.”
And why, pray tell, is a city’s public taxpayer money expected to pay for a billion dollar albatross stadium for a for-profit business venture owned by a multibillionaire? Kroenke isn’t entitled to a dime. That money should be going to schools, police, fire department, parks, and more.
The Rams were first in Cleveland, OH, not Los Angeles.
And there goes the dozens of LA KISS fans.
Yes, and the biggest horray of it is the rest of the NFC West teams that have to travel 4 hours to St. Louis from the West Coast and play in the Eastern time zone, now would have a far easier schedule each year. It’s only fair. No other conference is so far apart geographically.
So he’ll spend his own money in LA, but wants to extort the St Louis taxpayers of money to build there.
No welfare for billionaires !!! Let him pay for his own building !!
Rams in LA make the most sense. Let the owners pay for the stadium.
Rams in LA make the most sense. Let the owners pay for the stadium.
Good. They play in the NFC WEST. move them back WEST. Either that or put them in Vegas
“Back to their roots”?
They’re going back to Cleveland?
Or maybe you meant ” back to their last stop before St Louis”.
“But it appears Kroenke is ready to put a shovel in the ground and take them back to their roots.”
You mean Cleveland?
After visiting St. Louis for the first time in November, I think this is the best news. The city is soul-deadening. The most high end restaurant downtown is a Chile’s. The highways intersect right in front of the arch, and the view from the arch included a garbage barge, the Casino Queen, and some run down bridge. The metro (both underground and outside) is beyond sketchy / skanky. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.
So he’s moving them to Cleveland?
While it does seem stupid for the NFL not to have a franchise in LA, it seems a shame for a traditional football and all around sports town like St. Louis to not have one. Jacksonville can’t fill their stadium and the metro area around it is small by anyone’s standards. San Diego, Miami and Cincinnati don’t draw well either. Surely some team would do much better in St. Louis, providing, of course, the city and state fund a new stadium; which they always do in the end.
The Rams roots are in Cleveland, Ohio. And if any public money was used to build the St Louis stadium then the team should not be able to leave until the money garners\ed from taxes and public funding has been repaid, regardless of the lease involved.
Whyi don’t team owners build their own play-pens? There would be way less talk about teams moving
I’m a Bears fan and went to a recent Rams game. Besides the fact that I was able to get tickets at less than 1/2 price in general it’s not the most passionate fan base. I’m sure 10 years of losing hasn’t helped and having such a good baseball team also.
The road signs have pointed they were traveling west from hiring Fisher who transitioned Houstn to Memphis to Nashville. This appears to have been Kroenke plans from day 1…
Who would own a team and then not have have his team playing in the stadium that he built & owns?
IF Fishers agent has a move clause bonus in his contract, smart move!
Their roots? LOL
Whether LA or STL, Rams fan here 4ever
The L.A. Rams!
Very sweet music to my ears! I hope it happens!
Good luck putting 80,000 people in seats to see that sloppy team. Its going to be just like before. L.A will only support a team that wins consistently.
Their roots? Are they moving to Cleveland?
Kroenke is going to take them back to their roots? The Rams are coming back to Cleveland after all these years?
I believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg and that almost all small market teams will move eventually.
Kroenke bought the Rams knowing he was going to move them, just like Pergola who bought the Bills and Khan who bought the Jags.
The really big part of this is the apparent lack of public funding. I don’t believe for a second that there won’t be some sort of government assistance, at least with ancillary costs and bond issues. But given how many arenas and stadiums are paid for “in partnership” between owners and the public, this is big news in itself.
WE GET IT THE RAMS STARTED IN CLEVELAND…..
ptfrocks, the Oilers/Titans were never IN Memphis so to speak. Memphis wasn’t even supposed to happen; the only reason they ended up there in the first place was due to Adams and Houston agreeing to end their lease in the Astrodome a year early.
The Oilers actually held all offices, practices, and camps in Nashville and bused to Memphis on game days in 1997.
I don’t understand why he would want to build an 80,000 seat venue (reported elsewhere). Why not build it smaller, like 60,000 seats and then a BUNCH of suites.
“Who would own a team and then not have have his team playing in the stadium that he built & owns?”
30 of the 32 teams that’s who. Kraft is the only owner who entirely funded his own stadium privately, and I believe Jerry Jones partially funded his.
The other 30 owners have all been extorting the taxpayers for many many years and believe that stealing public funds that are desperately needed elsewhere is the way to retain their own wealth.
GO with the blue and white uni’s
Across the country, many NFL fans hold a similar view in that L.A. is not seen as a Football city (whatever that may mean). I believe this as well, and am curious to see how it’ll work (since the return is inevitable and driven by the likes of ESPN who are concentrated in New York and L.A.). I feel for the fans in St. Louis who will be seeing another franchise leave, and am left to wonder why a team like Jacksonville (one of the smallest NFL markets) is left with a team? Not to hate on Jacksonville, but the numbers just don’t add up there.
Good to have the Rams back in Los Angeles where they belong. Fits back perfect for the division alignment too.
Kroenke is making the move now before another team does. Once a team moves to LA, the other teams with small fan bases are stuck where they are, and he didn’t want to be the one stuck.
The good news is that once the LA market is occupied, other teams will have less leverage to get money out of the taxpayer. (Moving to St. Louis isn’t nearly as big a threat as moving to LA)
This post is about the Rams and should stay with the Rams, but the lack of knowledge regarding the situation in Jacksonville is significant.
Do a little reading and you’ll quickly realize that you can stop asking questions like “why does a small market like Jacksonville have a team?” just like the multiple writers on this have over the last few years.
And yet when they start to win, you’ll call all of their fans “bandwagoners” — it’d be funny if it weren’t so sad and predictable…
“And why, pray tell, is a city’s public taxpayer money expected to pay for a billion dollar albatross stadium…
– income taxes from players, support staff, vendors, etc.
– hotel taxes on visiting spectators
– restaurants and tourism supported by visiting spectators
Owners are the only ones benefiting from having an NFL team in the city. Or would you argue that the taxpayers of St Louis would be better off without the team?
To all of those complaining about the St. Louis proposal for an open air stadium that’ll cost the taxpayers $600 million (not a billion)
Please remember that if the Rams move, Missouri would be out half of that $600 million dollar stadium’s costs in the loss of state income taxes from players/coaches/personnel.
Not to mention the annual economic impact that’s been estimated at $100 million per year ($ 3 billions over 30 years) for St. Louis businesses because of the Rams playing 10 home games within the cities limits.
St. Louis and Missouri needs to be smart about this and NOT listen to the typical Republican reaction of “no tax dollars for wealthy sports owners!”
What LA you dont want Raider trash in town? I guess it is enough to have one game a year for Raider fan to take their garbage down to San Diego. Ice Cube will be upset but he stills has the waste in Oakland to visit.
Bad location:
Tupac said it best “Inglewood always up to no good”
As an LA resident, I’m really excited about getting an NFL team here. HOWEVER, I would rather have no NFL team than have to stomach the thought of having to pay a single cent of taxpayer money (I’m not a Republican) for a multibillionaire in a league worth tens of billions.
Downtown LA was revitalized by developers including the Staples Center where the Lakers/ Clippers/ Kings play, and high rises. Not a single cent to taxpayer money was given (tax breaks). The NFL can pay for their own damned luxury palaces. All those corporations and high rent condos create more tax revenue (daily use) than a billion dollar stadium used only a few times a year.
Shame on any community who gives into blackmail by the NFL.
and St Louis is in the Central Time Zone not in the Eastern zone
First of all, let me apologize to all NFL fans for the ugly concept of the permanent seat license that was born here in Charlotte, and I believe was used to fund the construction of the Edward Jones Dome also.
Also, the “no taxpayer money for wealthy team owners” is not a Republican cry, but a cry from anyone who doesn’t understand why some cat with a $2-5 billion net worth wants to contribute NO money to stadium construction costs. The “economic impact” people always cite for reasons to use taxpayer money to fund the stadiums is usually significantly overstated. So I think the cost should be shared by public and private dollars (with the lion’s share being private).
What I have always hated most about these rumors is the threat to move the team. This won’t go away even if the Rams move back to LA. The next city to be held prisoner will be threatened to have their team moved to London, then the next one to Canada, then to Mexico… There will never be a time where there are no wealthy mogals available to pounce on RG1’s lust for more money by offering more money to the NFL to have a team move to his/her city, and RG1 will fall for it every time.
last time I checked Dallas was in the NFC East….with NY, Philly, & Washington….gee no geographics with that right?? So the Rams in ST Louis is no biggie as far as geographics go, as long as Kroneke is footing the bill and not hitting up the taxpayers, its his call
As a Cleveland Browns fan, I feel for any fan base that loses their team. The St. Louis issue is interesting, because while L.A. getting its old team back seems appropriate, St. Louis is once again without a team, having lost the Cardinals before the Rams ever came along. If St. Louis and Baltimore had simply been awarded expansion teams back in the early 90’s when Carolina and Jacksonville got them instead, well, we might not be where we are. (And maybe Ozzie Newsome would be running the Browns front office today, but I digress.)
If any team is to move to L.A., the Rams make the most sense. I still don’t like the idea of teams moving, but.
And for the record, I don’t think anyone was too worked up about the Rams leaving Cleveland after the 1945 season, because Ohio football coach and hero Paul Brown was already organizing the Browns to begin play in 1946, and had instant success.
Yeah, moving the Rams will ruin the City … No, your rioting pieces of trash have already done it for you… GO LA RAMS!!!
How are the Jaguars not being moved? The only time their stadium is sold out, it’s when the Georgia-Florida game gets played there.
St Louis Jags 2016.
If he wants to put an NFL Stadium that will be surrounded on all sides with houses that have bars on the windows, then go ahead. Oh and good luck getting people to live in this new real estate development. What a gang infested venue this will be. Should have the Raiders play there.
To answer bosb88, the Jaguars’ owner has invested millions in stadium upgrades, that’s why.
Nflfan1336 you obviously haven’t been there in a while, there’s also another billion dollar project in Inglewood, I get you feel the need to better yourself by denigrating others though.