The St. Louis Rams want public money to build a new stadium to replace the Edward Jones Dome. Cue the requisite speculation regarding LA:
To leave St. Louis, Kroenke would need approval from three-fourths of his fellow team owners and prove that the community was refusing to take steps to satisfy the lease.
Nixon’s efforts negate that argument for now, but it hasn’t stopped speculation that Kroenke has his sights on the more lucrative Los Angeles market, where some say the team would be worth twice what it’s worth now.
At $930 million, Forbes ranked the Rams last in the league, compared to the Chiefs at $1.1 billion and No. 1 Dallas at $3.2 billion.
Kroenke only added to the conjecture when he bought 60 acres in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood last winter. Then on Nov. 6, the same day Nixon made his announcement, Rams representatives met privately with that city’s mayor.
It’s a nice bargaining chip, at least to be mentioned by media outlets, that LA place.
Several teams that can exit their lease deals are considered possible transplants — the San Diego Chargers, St. Louis Rams and Oakland Raiders. All three have historical ties to Los Angeles — the latter two franchises were once based in the city, and the Chargers played their inaugural season in Los Angeles in 1960.
I’m glad that tactic wasn’t successful up here in cold, snowy Minnesota. Wait. What (see the third to the last paragraph)?
See here for an old post of mine at Market Power regarding how St. Louis originally got the Rams in the first place.
