A key NFL voice rises in support of Rams move to Los Angeles

BY VINCENT BONSIGNORE

If St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke truly is intent on moving his franchise to Inglewood, he may or may not have the 24 necessary votes from fellow owners to allow him to relocate.

But it’s obvious he can count on Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, one of the most influential owners in the league.

In fact, according to Jones, Kroenke and the Rams can  probably make their way west regardless of they have support with in the league.

Jones, in a recent interview with the New York Times said: “As it would turn out now, apart from the league saying no, you can move there. Keep in mind that teams have moved without the permission of the league. They just have.”

The remarks disappointed St. Louis leaders who are fighting to keep the Rams right where they are. Kroenke recently joined forces with land developers in Inglewood to build an 80.000 seat football stadium on the sight of the former Hollywood Park Race Track, and St. Louis responded with its own stadium plan.

At this point, St. Louis is waiting Kroenke’s response.

It’s hard to imagine Kroenke moving if he doesn’t have support within the league – the ramifications could be severe – but Jones said it’s an option for Kroenke if he so chooses. Asked in the Times story if Kroenke could simply move his team, Jones said: “He can if the league says he can’t.”

At this point we still aren’t clear what Kroenke’s end game is, but it’s pretty clear he has options regardless what kind of support he has in the NFL.

Here is an excellent analysis from the St. Louis Dispatch further explaining what Jones said.

Could Rams be blocking a Raiders move to Los Angeles?

By Vincent Bonsignore

With all the focus on the St. Louis Rams and their intentions with the open Los Angeles market, it’s easy to forget both the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers are also fighting for new local stadiums and each has their eye on the second-biggest market in the country.

Both must be gritting their teeth over Rams’ owner Stan Kroenke apparently jumping in line in front of them when it comes to Los Angeles, and it’s fair to wonder if the Rams truly plan to move to L.A.,whether it squeezes one or both out of moving to Los Angeles as well.

There is a feeling around the NFL that Kroenke wants Los Angeles all to himself, and if that’s the case, as our friend Mark Purdy at the San Jose Mercury News ponders, that could be a big problem for the Raiders.

Needless to say, this story is well distanced from being fully told.

But there is no doubt four cities – Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego and St. Louis –  are waiting on pins and needles wondering the outcome.

Rams lukewarm reaction to new stadium plan is telling

BY VINCENT BONSIGNORE

Like a wary spouse trying to salvage a shaky marriage, Missouri put its best foot forward Friday in hopes of re-catching the attention of a partner that seems to have already checked out.

Problem is, the utter nonchalance by the Rams made it such a one-sided attempt at reconciliation you wonder if they really even noticed.

Or cared.

Then again, with the Rams suddenly the object of two cities desires it must be nice to know you have options.

On one hand you have the new stadium proposal presented Friday by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon’s two-man task force, which Nixon and other state leaders hope will convince the Rams to renew their wows with the city they’ve called home since 1995.

On the other you have Los Angeles, where Rams owner Stan Kroenke has turned an adoring eye after announcing plans to build a new football stadium in Inglewood.

Presumably to be the future home for his Rams, who played in the Los Angeles area from 1946 to 1994.

Kroenke made those intentions known – at least the stadium part – late Sunday night in a weekend bombshell that rocked the sports world.

St. Louis immediately responded Friday in the form of an open air, 64,000-seat riverfront stadium proposal announced by attorney Robert Blitz and former Anheuser-Busch president David Peacock, the two-man team appointed by Gov. Nixon in November to craft a plan to keep the Rams in St. Louis.

The St. Louis stadium will cost anywhere from cost $860 million to $985 million, with construction beginning in 2016 and completed by 2020.

Peacock said some funding would come from tax credits and other public financing, including extending current bonds used to pay off the Edward Jones Dome, the Rams’ current home. But, there would be no new tax burden.

Up to about half the money would come from the NFL and the team, the proposal states. Seat licensing fees would also help pay for the project.

It was an impressive presentation, but it was missing a key element.

The man of the hour never bothered to show.

Not only was Kroenke absent from the glitzy press conference, no one from the Rams was present either.

In fact, their only reaction was a lukewarm, watered-down statement that if you listened carefully enough sounded more like a yawn than anything else.

“The St. Louis Rams have worked for many years, with several agencies and commissions, and their senior management , responsible for stadium facilities in St. Louis. This includes multiple discussions with the Governor’s recently formed NFL Task Force. We received the Task Force materials shortly before the press conference. We will review them and speak with the Task Force representatives.”

Even of the Rams are just playing the negotiating game – and they absolutely are – the tone of the statement remained ominous and skeptical. What the Rams seem to really be saying is, “yeah, yeah, we’ve heard plenty of talk before from plenty of different politicians. And all it’s ever been is talk.”

Read between the lines whatever you like, but it sure sounds to me like the Rams want more than some nice glossy renditions and a bunch of proposed numbers on a piece of paper before they take anything seriously.

And oh by the way, 1,800 miles away in Inglewood they have the land, the money and the motivation to build a brand new stadium by ourselves.

And everything from their actions, reactions – or a lack thereof – to their wallet is screaming they want to be in Los Angeles.

The tepid reaction by Kroenke and the Rams to Friday’s developments should not be taken as they are automatically headed to Los Angeles. This is a negotiating fight that is still in the early rounds and it would be a mistake of epic proportions if Kroenke simply jumped back into the arms of St. Louis.

If his intentions are to stay in Missouri, this is just the starting point of that process.

On the other hand, there is no getting around the fact he is going out of his way to play a particularly hard-handed game of hard ball. In fact, it’s impossible not to wonder if the arm’s distance he’s created between his franchise and St. Louis – local leaders say he hasn’t returned their calls for awhile now – is his way of permanently turning his back on them as he prepares for a move to Los Angeles.

 

There are hurdles standing in the way of staying and leaving.

St. Louis announced a stadium plan, but there is a big difference between a plan and a politically vetted project being green lighted by state leadership, especially with the hefty bill taxpayers will assume.

As far as Los Angeles goes, even if Kroenke  wants to be here he still has to prove to the rest of the NFL he has justification to relocate, and then there is that whole business of getting the necessary 24 votes from fellow owners.

With two other teams eyeing Los Angeles – the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers – and the potential road blocks they can create, there is no guarantee Kroenke gets the necessary support to move to L.A.

And he’ll have a mess on his hands if St. Louis turns a stadium plan into a guaranteed project, negating most of his justification to relocate.

No NFL team has ever moved with a viable stadium plan from their current city on the table, and if that precedent ever flips it could create some major long-range ramifications.

As the old saying goes, it’s a long way from here to there. And when we don’t even know what map the guy behind the wheel is looking at, it’s impossible to predict where he’s truly headed.

Nevertheless, if Kroenke’s silence and tepidness are any clue, it sure seems like his heart is in Los Angeles not St. Louis.

 

Rams statement on new stadium proposal

Here is the Rams statement regarding the new  stadium proposal from Missouri Governor Jay Nixon’s task force:

“The St. Louis Rams have worked for many years, with several agencies and commissions, and their senior management , responsible for stadium facilities in St. Louis. This includes multiple discussions with the Governor’s recently formed NFL Task Force. We received the Task Force materials shortly before the press conference. We will review them and speak with the Task Force representatives.”

Sounds kind of lukewarm to me.

St. Louis reveals new Rams stadium plan

 

BY VINCENT BONSIGNORE

With the threat of the Rams relocating to Los Angeles growing more real by the day, Missouri leaders on Friday unveiled a plan they hope will permanently keep the franchise along the banks of the Mississippi River.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon’s two-man task force headed by former Anheuser-Busch president Dave Peacock and attorney Bob Blitz revealed a dual-sport, open-air riverfront stadium Friday at a 12 pm press conference that will hopefully be the new home of the Rams and a professional soccer team.

The proposal comes just five says after Rams owner Stan Kroenke made public his partnership with the owners of the land at the old Hollywood Park Race Track sight in Inglewood to build an 80,000-seat stadium. Presumably, the Inglewood stadium will serve as the new home of the Rams, who played in the Los Angeles area from 1946 to 1994.

Missouri leaders have counted with Friday’s stadium plan, which will cost at least $860 million.

Private sources and seat licensing fees would pay for more than half, while other funding would come from tax credits and other public financing.

There will be no new tax burden for the 64,000-seat stadium, to be built over four years.

The ball, as they say, is now in Kroenke’s court.

If the new St. Louis stadium is approved, it seems unlikely Kroenke will have justification under the strict NFL relocation bylaws to move his team to Southern California.

No team NFL team has ever relocated from one city to another when a viable stadium plan in their current city was in place.

The next few months – and how far St. Louis gets politically with the new stadium proposal – will make clearer what Kroenke’s options are. One of which is simply moving his team to Los Angeles without NFL approval – he needs 24 out of 32 votes from league owners – and fighting the NFL in court.

If so, Kroenke is taking on one mighty fight against a very powerful league.

Needless to say, we are a long way way from knowing where exactly this is all headed.