Other NFL News

[I-10east]

Remember, the residents of Inglewood, CA still have to approve construction of the stadium.

I don't think there is question that stadium construction will be approved. That's probably the issue of least concern IMO.

There are two things that stick out to me. One is the location of the stadium in Inglewood. It's pretty rough from what I hear. Tupac even said "Inglewood, always up to no good". It seems like the vibrant stadium complex filled with entertainment will offer quite a contrast to the rest of the neighborhood.

Two is the timing of Stan Kroenke announcing his plans. It couldn't have came at a worst time, with the NFL announcing that no team will move in 2015. So this means that the Rams are a lame duck franchise ala the Browns before heading to Baltimore. It seems like Stan should've got the ball rolling sooner, and played 2015 in a LA temporary site like the LA Coliseum. If the St Louis Rams even average 30,000 next year, I'll call that a success for Kroenke.

[I-10east]

Renovations are underway at Miami's Sun Life Stadium.

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins/article5451048.html

[I-10east]

According to Mike Florio, Stan Kroenke currently has 23 of the 24 owners' votes that's needed to move the Rams to LA. That could change in 2016 of course. It will be interesting if Stan Kroenke hypothetically doesn't  get the votes, and pull an Al Davis 'maverick-style' and still move the team anyway.

[Gamblor]

From my experience as an Arsenal fan (also owned by Mr. Kroenke), with it being that close. he'll find some way to get that other vote.

[I-10east]

^^^I agree.

[spuwho]

According to Mike Florio, Stan Kroenke currently has 23 of the 24 owners' votes that's needed to move the Rams to LA. That could change in 2016 of course. It will be interesting if Stan Kroenke hypothetically doesn't get the votes, and pull an Al Davis 'maverick-style' and still move the team anyway.

NFL changed the bylaws after Big Al did his routine. Cant' move team without the owner vote. Raiders claim they have some grandfather clauses on their side. They were still arguing about it when he died. But it is much harder to pack em up and move like the Colts and Raiders did.

As far as St Louis goes, I really question if it is a viable NFL market. The Chicago Cardinals passed through there before the Bidwell's took their show to Arizona. Now the Rams will have come and gone.  Between the time Kroenke bought it and Rosenbloom's estate sold it, it was massively dysfunctional as an organization. The whole episode in 2005 where the team president wouldn't let Mike Martz back on the field to coach was the pinnacle of that debacle.

[I-10east]

^^^Remember that one of the NFL rules forbids cross-ownership, but that's didn't stop Stan Kroenke from owning the St Louis Rams, Colorado Avalanche, and the Denver Nuggets. Oh yeah, the properties of the Avalanche, and Nuggets are under his son Josh. *nudge nudge, wink wink*

[Steve]

I think St Louis is a very viable NFL market. The Cardinals left in the 80's because they didn't want to share a stadium with the baseball Cardinals, and the County Manager and Mayor got into a giant pissing contest (not a consolidated government). The Cardinals were also kind of stupid for moving; it took them 25 years to get a permanent home in Arizona. But hey, that's why they are the Cardinals.

I don't think this one is over yet for St Louis. Interesting, the Rams were the team that Shad Khan wanted to buy, but Stan Kronke (who had first right as a minority owner) bought instead. The Rams unfortunately built a stadium just as Jacksonville and Carolina ushered in the era of "uber revenue" generating facilities. Make no mistake-EverBank Field was revolutionary in 1995 when it opened. It is probably the largest reason the Jaguars are secure today.

[spuwho]

Bad news for St Louis. Rams have stopped returning calls.

They are trying to lean on Anheuser-Busch people to sway the NFL, but gotta be honest. They (A-B) sold themselves to InBev, and while they are a massive NFL advertiser, they relocated most of the senior decision makers out of St Louis.

Per ESPN.com:

St. Louis mayor: We're getting hint

ST. LOUIS -- City officials said Wednesday that the owner of the Rams isn't returning their calls, so they plan to work directly with the NFL on efforts to keep a team -- any team -- in St. Louis amid speculation the Rams are headed back to Los Angeles.

Rams billionaire owner Stan Kroenke is part of a joint venture that announced plans Monday for an 80,000-seat stadium in the Los Angeles suburbs, a move that could soon return the NFL to the nation's second-largest market and the home of the Rams from 1946 until they moved to St. Louis in 1995. The move would have to wait at least a year; the NFL has said no team moves would be allowed in 2015.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon isn't giving up on the Rams.

"St. Louis is an NFL city," Nixon said Wednesday. "I don't think it's too late to keep the Rams."

But city leaders are hedging their bets, saying the plan now is to work directly with the NFL, not the Rams. The change in philosophy is due in part to the fact that Kroenke won't take calls from Mayor Francis Slay or other city leaders, said Maggie Crane, Slay's spokeswoman.

"He hasn't responded, he hasn't called back, he hasn't done anything," Crane said of Kroenke.

"After a while, you sort of get the hint," said Jeff Rainford, the mayor's chief of staff.

Messages left Wednesday at Kroenke's office were not returned. A Rams spokesman declined comment.

"The NFL can make money in St. Louis," Rainford said. "It may end up being the Rams with this owner, the Rams with a different owner, a different team with a different owner."

Rainford said St. Louis can make a compelling argument to remain an NFL city: It is the nation's 20th-largest market, with a loyal fan base that sold out every game at the Edward Jones Dome from the team's arrival until a long run of bad play -- the Rams haven't had a winning record since 2003.

If the Rams leave, it isn't clear which team St. Louis might pursue.

The Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers also have been reported as teams that could move to Los Angeles.

The Raiders' lease to play at O.co Coliseum, formerly known as the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, has expired, and the team is now on a year-to-year agreement. The Chargers can announce their intention to leave San Diego between Feb. 1 and May 1 of each year through 2020 if they pay an early-termination fee tied to the bonds used to expand Qualcomm Stadium in 1997.

St. Louis has been through this before. The Chicago Cardinals moved here in 1960 and stayed until 1987. Unhappy with sharing Busch Stadium with the baseball Cardinals, owner Bill Bidwill moved the team to Arizona.

By the early 1990s, a domed stadium was being built with taxpayer money. St. Louis missed out on an expansion team in 1993 when the league awarded franchises to Jacksonville and Carolina. But in 1995, Rams owner Georgia Frontiere took the Rams back to her hometown. Kroenke bought in as minority owner.

Frontiere died, and in 2010, Kroenke bought the team. Meanwhile, the dome -- small and outdated by NFL standards -- became a point of contention. Negotiations about improvements have gone nowhere.

With the threat of the Rams' departure looming, Nixon in November appointed former Anheuser-Busch executive David Peacock and veteran attorney Robert Blitz to spearhead an effort looking at a new stadium. They are expected to deliver a report to Nixon by Friday. One plan would call for a new stadium near the Mississippi River not far from the Gateway Arch.

Paying for it is the next hurdle.

The dome was built 20 years ago with 30-year bonds. The state of Missouri pays $12 million annually toward the debt; the city and St. Louis County pay $6 million each.

There appears to be no appetite for new public funding. Missouri Senate Majority Leader Ron Richard, a Republican, said it was doubtful that lawmakers would approve new spending for a football team when the state has so many other needs.

Nixon and Rainford said no new taxes or fees would be used for the new stadium, but Nixon has hinted that the bonds for the dome could be extended.

Anheuser-Busch is one of the NFL's largest advertisers, and Peacock worked directly with the league on advertising and marketing while with the brewing giant. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame advisory board. Blitz was part of the legal team that helped bring the Rams to St. Louis and is legal counsel to the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority.

[Gamblor]

^^^Remember that one of the NFL rules forbids cross-ownership, but that's didn't stop Stan Kroenke from owning the St Louis Rams, Colorado Avalanche, and the Denver Nuggets.

And a little team in North London that produces £250 in revenue a year...and they have the gall to not buy me a defensive mid. Spend some of those pounds you @$#&. How many talented teams do we have to squander on the lack of a player in the middle who can stop the @$#&ing ball. I mean, come on! Are you even watching Kronke! Give Alexis a break! The guy is killing himself for us! I mean ya he is fantastic but geez, call Wegner, tell him to make an offer they can't refuse for a bender, schneiderlin, carvalho, but no! You're gonna put a team in LA! That totally won't drain the little time you spend on the Gunners. And it's not like this is affecting the chances we finish top 4 right now or, i can't say it, finish below tot, tot, I can't do it!                     ... Sorry, back to normal service. So how about those playoffs?

[I-10east]

I think St Louis is a very viable NFL market.

Many in St Louis aren't as optimistic as you. St Louis sports talk host Frank Cusumano describes the city as 'broke and losing companies' and unable to support 3 major league franchises, with the Cardinals and Blues being the obvious mainstays. He said that the Rams moving would be great for the Blues attendance as the Rams effected it.

While I can't say 'never' IMO St Louis isn't gonna get a team for the foreseeable future; Put it this way, how long it taking for LA to get a team 20 some odd years, that then some more, if ever. This STL situation is far from the Cleveland and Houston issues, when the teams' came right back. St Louis Rams attendance has been averaging under 60,000 since 2008, that for a franchise that won two Super Bowls in the city not that long ago relatively speaking. Not to mention the Ferguson issues, which certainly didn't help. Here's the Frank Cusumano vid below (it's a lil' old) about 7 minutes in, he starts talking about the St Louis Rams issues. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F5I4PypzI0

[Steve]

I think St Louis is a very viable NFL market.

Many in St Louis aren't as optimistic as you. St Louis sports talk host Frank Cusumano describes the city as 'broke and losing companies' and unable to support 3 major league franchises, with the Cardinals and Blues being the obvious mainstays.

Sounds like Detroit. They seem to do it fine.

Now, where I would agree is that a new stadium typically comes with higher ticket prices and PSLs. That does add a significant burden.

[spuwho]

Part of me is kinda glad that the city is saying there is no blank check to retain NFL. While I am well aware of stadium revenue requirements, STL needs to have other uses of their facilities to make them viable. Old Busch worked becuase it hosted about a 100 events a year. New Busch works as it hosts about 90 events a year. The dome works because it hosts more than football, roughly 40 to 60 events a year.

If you essentially double the cost of your venue to benefit only 10 events a year (NFL) and still keep the others, then it becomes terribly uneconomic.

Chicago had a similar issue in the Soldier Field revamp. They were almost 200 Million short. The City told the NFL either give us another franchise to make it viable or make up the difference. The Bears did not want a local competitor for TV. The Chicago Park District didnt have that much laying around. The State of Illinois was already in hock. So the NFL coughed up the difference and the Bears implementes huge PSL's to make it work.

Even New York has to use 1 stadium for 2 teams to make it work at MetLife.

So St Louis? Clearly Krohke is not Shad Khan and wants to drop $20M out of his own pocket.to make it happen. He put his dough in LA.

I expect a Cleveland like arrangement where the team exits and the NFL promises a new team when a new stadium is built, but it wont happen. The city and state just cant afford it.

[Gators312]

I expect a Cleveland like arrangement where the team exits and the NFL promises a new team when a new stadium is built, but it wont happen. The city and state just cant afford it.

STL shouldn't build on that promise.   I don't think the NFL will expand past 32 anytime soon.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

STL shouldn't build on that promise.   I don't think the NFL will expand past 32 anytime soon.

I don't know that I would plan on getting another franchise anytime soon, but I have all suspicion that the NFL will expand within the next 10 years by either 2 or 4 teams.

They're already planning on watering down the playoffs by another 2 teams, possibly by next season, so the only next logical step is to add another division.