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NFL votes to move the St. Louis Rams to Los Angeles for the 2016 season

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R

RadarScope1

Member
Random Painted HIghway said:
He probably had this in mind when he helped move them from LA in the first place, knowing Georgia wouldn't be around forever.
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That's what I think. He's a cold, calculating investor. Buy in, buy out the rest, tank the franchise, exploit the lease terms, return to huge market with built in fan base, develop a huge property to make it about more than just a sports franchise = fucking mega profit. He's the textbook definition of a rich asshole. A legal long con.
 
R

RBH

Member
Recruited to oversee that project was Disney Chairman and CEO Robert Iger, who spoke of his love for the NFL and his branding expertise and reminded the 32 owners that, as head of ESPN's parent company, he had paid them all plenty of money over the years.

After Iger left, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones pushed back his swivel chair and stood to address the room.

"He said he paid us. Last time I checked, that money is coming from Disney shareholders, not him," Jones said, touching off laughter.

The moment of levity was a bad omen for the Carson project.
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Momentum was building for Inglewood. After two ballots, Inglewood was only three votes short of the 24 needed for approval. Owners saw a path toward a resolution — no one in the room wanted to stand in the way of a project clearly preferred by the majority of owners.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell ushered the three owners seeking relocation into a private negotiation that lasted about an hour.

Sensing the end was near, Jones had beer and wine delivered to the ballroom for the remaining 29 owners. The tension seemed to have ebbed.
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The agreement — which gave the Chargers a one-year option to join the Rams in L.A. and the Raiders an identical right if the Chargers decline — was an option league staff had discussed for at least six months.
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http://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-nfl-la-tick-tock-20160117-story.html
 
Z

Zvonimir Boban

Banned
RBH I swear am going to kick your arse.

secondspace said:
Is London a serious idea or just replacing LA as a bargaining chip.

I can see that they could sell tickets in London, but what else does it bring to the table?
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Fish and chips, Worcester Sauce flavour French Fries, those Cadbury Chocolate bars with the jelly beans and popping candy in, Pink Lucozade AND Caribbean Crush Lucozade.

Immediately becomes the most desirable location in the whole league for NFL free agents and visiting fans alike.
 
F

Faddy

Banned
secondspace said:
Is London a serious idea or just replacing LA as a bargaining chip.

I can see that they could sell tickets in London, but what else does it bring to the table?
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I know there is potentially greater ticket revenue than most US markets due to currency conversions but there are no perks for an owner. Parking, real estate, stadium deals etc just won't be there.
 
P

Purple Cheeto

Member
Ninja Scooter said:
Kroenke is probably going to coast these next 3 years and do a big blowout/refresh in 2019 with a new stadium, new (old) colors and maybe even add some star power to the roster/coaching staff/front office. Bill Simmons made a good point on his podcast that Los Angeles is such a hugely populated area and full of so many transplants that you can probably get by selling tickets to fans of opposing teams. Granted that would suck for the Rams players and fans to be outnumbered in their own stadium, but a dollar is a dollar. This has happened several times this year in San Diego.
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Yeah everyone I know who isn't into sports keeps asking me what I think will happen and based on the response I've seen all the fans of other teams will flock to the games for the next 3 years until everyone other team in the league has been through town at least once.

Then the Rams will get a boost from their own stadium being open, but by year 2 of the Inglewood stadium they will need to have established a fan base/team that people want to watch.
 
F

Faddy

Banned
RBH said:
Recruited to oversee that project was Disney Chairman and CEO Robert Iger, who spoke of his love for the NFL and his branding expertise and reminded the 32 owners that, as head of ESPN's parent company, he had paid them all plenty of money over the years.

After Iger left, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones pushed back his swivel chair and stood to address the room.

"He said he paid us. Last time I checked, that money is coming from Disney shareholders, not him," Jones said, touching off laughter.
Click to expand...
http://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-nfl-la-tick-tock-20160117-story.html
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The burn. Sorry Bobby you're only worth $100m, Jerry still considers you 'the help'.
 
M

Megalosaro

Banned
Purple Cheeto said:
Yeah everyone I know who isn't into sports keeps asking me what I think will happen and based on the response I've seen all the fans of other teams will flock to the games for the next 3 years until everyone other team in the league has been through town at least once.

Then the Rams will get a boost from their own stadium being open, but by year 2 of the Inglewood stadium they will need to have established a fan base/team that people want to watch.
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I personally am looking forward to the pats coming in 2020.
 
R

RBH

Member
CZAsADLWcAAGHQd.jpg:large


The Los Angeles Rams announced that they will launch their season ticket deposit campaign today beginning at 10 a.m. PST. Fans can place a $100 refundable deposit by visiting the team's official deposit website: WelcomeHomeRams.com

By opening an account and placing a refundable deposit, fans will secure an opportunity to purchase Los Angeles Rams season tickets for the 2016 season at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum beginning this spring.

Members on the waiting list will be able to purchase tickets before the general public based on when the deposit was received. Each account holder will have the ability to purchase up to eight season tickets.

All Los Angeles Rams season ticket holders in the Coliseum will be guaranteed the first opportunity to purchase seats in the team's new state-of-the-art Inglewood Stadium before the general public. The Inglewood stadium is scheduled to open in time for the 2019 season.

Positions on the wait list are expected to fill quickly so reserve your priority opportunity today at WelcomeHomeRams.com.
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http://www.stlouisrams.com/news-and...Campaign/dc7272bd-76c8-4d60-a4e4-caf0138f6112
 
P

Purexed

Banned
Got my season ticket reservation in at 10:05am PST. Very curious to see how close I can get considering I booked at the earliest opportunity.

For all the haters saying LA doesn't care about football, it appears 10,000 deposits (1 deposit equals up to 8 tickets purchasable) were sold in 1 hour per Arash Markazi from ESPN.
 
J

jmood88

Member
Purexed said:
Got my season ticket reservation in at 10:05am PST. Very curious to see how close I can get considering I booked at the earliest opportunity.

For all the haters saying LA doesn't care about football, it appears 10,000 deposits (1 deposit equals up to 8 tickets purchasable) were sold in 1 hour per Arash Markazi from ESPN.
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Of course there's going to be initial excitement. We'll see what happens once Kroenke continues his track record of not giving a fuck about making the team a winner.
 
W

Weevilone

Member
Purexed said:
Got my season ticket reservation in at 10:05am PST. Very curious to see how close I can get considering I booked at the earliest opportunity.

For all the haters saying LA doesn't care about football, it appears 10,000 deposits (1 deposit equals up to 8 tickets purchasable) were sold in 1 hour per Arash Markazi from ESPN.
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I'm sure the honeymoon period will get some solid attendance.

When they moved to STL they were sold out from 1995-2006. The first 4 seasons they averaged 5.5 wins. The past decade, they've averaged 5 wins per season, including the worst 5 year stretch by any team.. ever (15-65). Despite all that and the threat of the team moving, attendance was still >80% this year. Heck attendance was around 60k during that terrible 5 year stretch.

Of course people will be interested to see how it holds up if Kroenke puts a loser on the field every year in LA. The fans in St. Louis have repeatedly been told we were the problem in St. Louis, and now we're reading poor Stan was a victim.
 
S

SpecX

Member
Shit, I waited in queue for the deposit and had 5 mins left. Walked away for a quick bathroom break which wasn't even 5 mins and saw the timer ran out. Now I keep getting "Sorry, no tickets from venue currently..." -_-

Edit: Mobile took me right in, might be worth a try for others looking to put down the deposit.
 
G

GoldenEye 007

Member
Purexed said:
Got my season ticket reservation in at 10:05am PST. Very curious to see how close I can get considering I booked at the earliest opportunity.

For all the haters saying LA doesn't care about football, it appears 10,000 deposits (1 deposit equals up to 8 tickets purchasable) were sold in 1 hour per Arash Markazi from ESPN.
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It has nothing to do with hatred. There was plenty of factual information that said LA in fact did not by and large care about the NFL. And to be honest, that jury is still out. Especially once the honeymoon period ends and the team isn't competing for championships or in the playoffs every year.

But yes, it is good to see that level of support early on with the apparent numbers in season ticket deposits.
 
K

Klotera

Member
RBH said:
https://twitter.com/KeepTheRamsNStL/status/688573364122746880
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Didn't know the Kroenkes owned the Rapids. Went to see Sporting KC play in Colorado last year and, yeah, there were more KC fans than Colorado fans.

StL had decent attendance even well after the Rams performance had fallen off from their peak years.. But, it spiraled further into a dumpster fire while the threat of moving the team loomed. Kroenke became known as Silent Stan because he never made an appearance or spoke to anyone, further confirming fans fears. Hard to blame people for not wanting to invest in the team. A little of people question how much he really wanted the team to succeed before they moved. Kind of a Major League situation, many suspect.
 
R

RBH

Member
The previous Friday, in New York, Kroenke had agreed to a revenue split if it turned out he eventually would take on a partner. All along, Spanos did not want to be Kroenke’s tenant—or anyone’s tenant, for that matter. But if Kroenke did a deal to take all the risk for potential cost overruns and other financial liability, and motivated a second team with a profitable stick-and-carrot, might that tempt the Chargers? In the end, on Friday, Kroenke agreed to let a second team keep all game-day revenue in and around the stadium on days it played. And he told the league he would agree to a formula that gave the second team 18.75 percent of other lucrative deals associated with the new stadium—such as signage and stadium naming rights. When the deal was relayed to owners on Tuesday, one owner exclaimed, “Sign me up! We’ll be the Los Angeles Wolverines!” (Writer's note: The team name is changed, because the owner told the story with the agreement that he not be identified.)
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http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/01/19/los-angeles-rams-nfl-ownership-meeting
 
R

RBH

Member
The Chargers need to remain in San Diego where they belong. The Chargers need to forget sharing Los Angeles with the Rams, because they can't.

In 1960, the Chargers were part of the fledgling American Football League and played in the Coliseum, and nobody knew they were here.

The Rams averaged more than 70,000 fans, the Chargers would barely draw 10,000. Even for their L.A. debut, the Chargers drew just 17,724, and many of those "fans" were employees of team owner and hotel magnate Barron Hilton.

A Times story by Bob Oates in 1985 recounted the following pregame conversation between then-coach Sid Gillman and Hilton.

Said Gillman: "I've got a great promotional idea, Barron. Let's introduce the people in the stands today instead of the teams."

Said Hilton: "They'd be too embarrassed. They're all bellhops and desk clerks I let in free."

One of the narratives is that today's Chargers could take the town from the Rams if they win more games. But that didn't work back then. While the Rams were 4-7-1, the Chargers and starting quarterback Jack Kemp were 10-4 and advanced to the AFL's first championship game against the Houston Oilers.

Still, there was so little interest in the team, the Chargers willingly gave up home-field advantage in the title game so it could be played in a more appropriately populated stadium. It turned out to be a Houston high school football field.

"We thought ABC might not pick up their [1961] option if they panned around the Coliseum in the first quarter and could only find 97 spectators," Gillman recalled.

By the end of the 1960 season, it was as clear as it should be today. The Chargers could not thrive here as a second team to the Rams. According to the 2011 book "The Way We Were In San Diego" by Richard W. Crawford, Hilton stated the obvious:

"There's no doubt in my mind that we've got to get out of Los Angeles," Hilton said. "We can't compete in the same market as the Rams."
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http://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-chargers-plaschke-20160120-column.html
 
C

Cyan

Banned
Makes sense. If they couldn't make headway against a well-established team when they were a brand new team in a brand new league, why would that be different now? Nothing has changed.
 
H

Herbs

Banned
jmood88 said:
Yeah, I really don't get how moving to LA is a good move for the Chargers.
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definitely not a good move. they should just relocate somewhere else though. going to games there is hilarious as the opposing team has so much representation.
 
W

_woLf

Member
Herbs said:
definitely not a good move. they should just relocate somewhere else though. going to games there is hilarious as the opposing team has so much representation.
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Yeah this is the problem. The city of San Diego has made it 100% clear that they do not want the Chargers there anymore, so they have to go somewhere.
 
R

RBH

Member
The mayor of Los Angeles won't be advocating for the addition of a second NFL team.

Instead, Eric Garcetti says he would like to see the Chargers stay in San Diego.

"We'd welcome any team to come here, but I love the idea of a great rivalry to the south," Garcetti said Wednesday. "We wish them luck."

Garcetti, speaking as a guest on ESPN Radio's Capital Games podcast, said he also hoped the Raiders would stay in Oakland.
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http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14612391/los-angeles-mayor-snubs-san-diego-chargers-wish-luck
 
F

Fatalah

Member
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