It’s no surprise that the Rams tried to couch the stadium situation as something that has been percolating since 2002, since that’s when the Chargers actually started trying to work out a new stadium in San Diego.
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In the 26-page assessment on the proposed move to Los Angeles, where the Rams played from 1946 to1994, the team cited a study that claims St. Louis ranks 61st out of 64 major cities in economic growth and last in population growth among that same group.
In a statement obtained by ESPN, St. Louis’ stadium task force explained they’d been anticipating the filing for more than a year.
In the application, the report expresses how relocating the Rams from St. Louis to Los Angeles will actually strengthen the league. Not only could that tempt National Football League owners for its connection to an entertainment giant, that deal would involve two relocation fees instead of one.
Owner Mark Davis wants to partner with the division rival San Diego Chargers to build a stadium in Carson.
The protocols owners are following were established three decades ago and are enshrined in the league charter to put the NFL on better legal footing if a team uses antitrust laws to try to force its way to a new city – as the Raiders did successfully more than 30 years ago. Either the Chargers or the Raiders would have to realign and join the NFC West for the plan to work, which creates a drawback from a competitive perspective.
“The Rams have consistently spent to the salary cap in each year under Stan Kroenke and have significantly increased the coaching and scouting budgets…Despite these investments and engagements, Rams attendance since 2010 has been well below the league’s average”. He has a “strong” relationship with Cardinals and Blues owners, he said in the letter.
Oakland has expressed interest in building a new stadium for the Raiders at the Coliseum site but has no funding plan as of yet. But it remains unknown whether he will get the required votes needed to move the Rams back to the Los Angeles area.
That thanks-but-no-thanks mindset was never more apparent than in a section in the application titled, “No NFL Club Would Be Interested In The RSA’s New St. Louis Stadium”.
Kroenke is pushing a privately financed $1.86 billion stadium in Inglewood, near the L.A. airport.
The St. Louis Rams’ relocation bid to Inglewood says it is vastly superior to the rival plan in Carson.
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So what does a team or teams returning to the second-largest market have to do with the Seattle Seahawks? And they’ll compare those to a lengthy list of relocation guidelines, which include discussions of fan loyalty, previous relocations, previous tax incentives, club financial performance and stadium adequacy, among other issues.
