Heading to Los Angeles

[27mtrcougar]

The NFL can try to stop the move but it doesn't mean they can

No they can't stop him. But I believe they could fine him up to $500,000 a day if they wanted to get real nasty. When Stan became an owner he agreed to follow the rules set up by the NFL. But it just depends on if the nfl will enforce it or turn their back.

 

[27mtrcougar]

By the way, your whole point is stipulated on an 'if'.

If St Louis can come up with a doable plan. Well they have had plenty of time to meet the agreement they made in 1994/1995.

Sorry but it's two decades later and they still don't have a plan. You can't blame the current owner like a lot of you from St Louis are doing now.

It's your own people that are doing this to you.

Don't blame Stan the Man.

It's your own peeps that have known all along what ends they've needed to meet for a long time now and have done diddly squat to see that happen.

Wait a min guys? How long have you been trying to get a stadium built now? Where is it again?

 

[Retroram52]

Like several other topics on this board, Cougar, you obviously do not understand the concept of leverage. It is a very nice tool the Billionnaires use and anyone with large sums of money also utilize to make even more money.

 

[27mtrcougar]

By the way, your whole point is stipulated on an 'if'.

If St Louis can come up with a doable plan. Well they have had plenty of time to meet the agreement they made in 1994/1995.

Sorry but it's two decades later and they still don't have a plan. You can't blame the current owner like a lot of you from St Louis are doing now.

It's your own people that are doing this to you.

Don't blame Stan the Man.

It's your own peeps that have known all along what ends they've needed to meet for a long time now and have done diddly squat to see that happen.

It has been an on going process though we tried to up grade the dome then the rams countered with their offer a 700m renovation that the city rejected. The dome is only 20 years old so some people squark at the idea of a putting that in the old stadium. this new plan really makes sense though because they will be able to use the old dome and convention center year round to bring in another 25m to the city. They couldn't do that with the rams in their half the year. The bottom line is Stan has been planing this move for a long time so it wouldn't have really made a difference.

 

[27mtrcougar]

ST. LOUIS -- It's been a week of pretty pictures revealing elaborate plans not only for new NFL-sized stadiums in Los Angeles and St. Louis but also for trendy developments in and around those new venues. Those pictures sitting on an easel, coming across a wide-screen television, or printed on heavy stock as a handout look great but they don't mean much more than the paper they're printed on.

The intentions of St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke are clear. The intentions of Dave Peacock, Bob Blitz and the city of St. Louis are also clear. There will be plenty of negotiations and conversations had over the next, well, who knows how long it will all take? But there are still many difficult questions that need to be asked and answered.

In the grand scheme of things, though, the future of the Rams in St. Louis could ultimately fall in the hands of the people who reside at 345 Park Avenue in New York City. That's home of the NFL offices, and if we've learned anything about the league in the past few years, it's that it will do what it believes is best for the league.

[+] EnlargeLos Angeles NFL stadium
Nick Ut/Associated Press
Los Angeles (pictured) and St. Louis have stadium proposals ready. Now the waiting game begins.
Considering that, it's no coincidence that as Peacock presented the St. Louis plan on Friday afternoon, he consistently referred to having an understanding of the bylaws and rules that dictate relocation in the NFL. He cited the league rules that say a team must exhaust all opportunities in its current city and referred to the rule that a team owner cannot move simply to enrich himself further.

There are other important to note provisions that say things like a team must put forth a "good faith" effort to negotiate with its current city before it can leave. That falls in line with the "exhaust all opportunities" portion of the rulebook.

To that end, Peacock, who has been working on the project for more than a year and putting in long hours for the past three months, emphasized the expedient efforts with which the St. Louis plan has come together.

"If we were moving in ’16 or ’17 on a new stadium, based on when this process started, I think that would be half the time a lot of other teams did," Peacock said. "I don’t necessarily buy the 'too little, too late.' ... I believe those NFL bylaws have been governing actions of the league for a while now and I have faith."

Of course, Kroenke's counter to that would point to the failed arbitration process to revamp the Edward Jones Dome as well as the time after that in which St. Louis made no real offers to keep the team. Even in the statement the Rams issued Friday afternoon, there were subtle hints of a team implying that it's been "good faith negotiating" well before Friday's reveal.

"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," the statement read. "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."

The argument that the city didn't negotiate much during and after the arbitration process rings true but it also doesn't mean that all options were exhausted. Pointing to the differences in required public money and the idea of retrofitting the Edward Jones Dome to guarantee 10 more years rather than a long-term solution, Peacock doesn't see negotiations for a new stadium and arbitration for the old one as the same thing.

"Trying to compare that to our proposal is a little bit of apples and oranges," Peacock said.

When all is said and done, through the many permutations of what could happen, the NFL and its owners will be the ones to decide on what it values most. Kroenke offers the most tangible Los Angeles plan in two decades, and the league has made no bones about its desire to return to that market.

St. Louis offers a real, seemingly feasible plan to continue as an NFL city. And while the league has rules and bylaws, it's also showed plenty of willingness to alter direction toward what most benefits the overall health of the league.

For that reason, Peacock has been sure to keep the league in the loop every step of the way. He met with NFL executives in November and with the Rams and more league executives later on.

"We’ve had great discussions with the league," Peacock said. "The NFL is extremely engaged in this."

Meanwhile, some around the league were taken aback by the reveal of the Los Angeles plans on Monday but that doesn't make Kroenke's offer any less appealing.

It's highly unlikely that there will be a resolution to any of this anytime soon. In the meantime, at least now we know where Kroenke and St. Louis stand. Unless Kroenke and the Rams surprise by simply agreeing to St. Louis' plan, it's up to the NFL to determine what happens next.

 

[Red_Chaos]

If i was an ass, i would just tell stan his team is kicked out of the league until they come together with stl. But i can't :/

 

[Vitamike]

Wait a min guys? How long have you been trying to get a stadium built now? Where is it again?

Since maybe 2002 & there are two sites both shovel ready besides the latest Kroenke proposal. One in downtown next to Staples Center and the other in the LA suburbs in the Walnut CA area about 20 miles east of LA.

The difference coug, St Louis has been under contract to provide the Rams a top 5 NFL stadium and has failed to even come close to providing an acceptable retro plan much less shovel ready sites. Also the sites in LA are only proposals to garner interest from the league which is a huge difference in terms of trust and confidence in fulfillment an existing contract

 

[trojanfan12]

There is one main reason why the Rams or some other franchise will move to Los Angeles in the near future and why there is now more momentum than ever to get a stadium built: The Los Angeles Clippers.

Yep, the Clippers. They were valued at $550 million, but sold for $2 billion. Considering the difference between what an NFL franchise is typically valued at compared to an NBA franchise, why wouldn't they move to L.A.?

If the Rams are serious about moving back to L.A., they will move and the NFL will not stop them. They will do exactly what they did when the Rams left for St. Louis. They will put up some resistance so as to alienate as few fans as possible, then they will relent and approve the move.

 

[Retroram52]

Could not have stated it better myself and I already did on another thread.

 

[DJ Fieri]

There is one main reason why the Rams or some other franchise will move to Los Angeles in the near future and why there is now more momentum than ever to get a stadium built: The Los Angeles Clippers.

Yep, the Clippers. They were valued at $550 million, but sold for $2 billion. Considering the difference between what an NFL franchise is typically valued at compared to an NBA franchise, why wouldn't they move to L.A.?

If the Rams are serious about moving back to L.A., they will move and the NFL will not stop them. They will do exactly what they did when the Rams left for St. Louis. They will put up some resistance so as to alienate as few fans as possible, then they will relent and approve the move.

Yep, but LA haters will say the city couldn't support a team the first time....

Total BS. Davis moved the team because he wanted PSL's and upgrades while the Coliseum was and is a dinosaur.

 

[ksudodger]

At the end of the day, there is now a 100% shovel ready site in St Louis (whether Kroenke, the people in LA or anyone like it or not). Yes it is shovel ready. The environmental studies have been done long before the press conference. Yes it is indeed a last ditch effort. Yes the city leaders took for granted that Kroenke would be a man of his word and keep the team here. However, per the league rules it is indeed a viable stadium option in the teams current location which means if he moves RIGHT NOW he is in violation of HIS agreement with the NFL and can indeed be punished and/or penalized.
This is a chess match that is far from over. Does it mean that they will stay here? Not necessarily. Does it 100% mean that they will move to LA? Not necessarily. My only problem now is that Kroenke is making it out like he is above the law that ALL the other owners follow. Egos will get involved with guys like Spanos, Jones, Irsay and Bisciotti and Wilf. This is not going to be resolved for a long time. He certainly cannot move his team without an application to relocate to the NFL and that will not happen until after 2015. I just want it to be over..make a decision..I do not care where.

 

[ksudodger]

But more importantly, will Shanahan,Munchak or an internal guy be our new OC??

 

[Clayton]

By the way, your whole point is stipulated on an 'if'.

If St Louis can come up with a doable plan. Well they have had plenty of time to meet the agreement they made in 1994/1995.

Sorry but it's two decades later and they still don't have a plan. You can't blame the current owner like a lot of you from St Louis are doing now.

It's your own people that are doing this to you.

Don't blame Stan the Man.

It's your own peeps that have known all along what ends they've needed to meet for a long time now and have done diddly squat to see that happen.

Calling Kroenke 'Stan the Man' is borderline sacrilege.

Its absolutely Kroenke. Everyone who runs into him gets the same opinion about him: its all about the money. Maybe his kids grew up here and one even played ball here but he is a calculating real estate guy who gets money from everyone. The STL Cardinals ownership is totally different. Or at least the one that Ive ran into. He is all about the community and the history of STL. The notion that its a baseball city is misleading. This is a football country. The Rams have just had 1 foot out the door for the past few years and have watched every other team in the NFC go to the playoffs while they haven't had a winning season.

 

[Rambunctious]

"Too many other needs in this city to pay for a silly football team that can't win anyway"

Missouri legislators show no appetite to use more public money to keep Rams in St. Louis | PoliticMo

This is just a taste of what Stan will be up against with the shine of gold gleaming over his shoulder from the west. Go West Young Man......Go West.

 

[Rambunctious]

"That same day, St. Louis city officials said 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."

St Louis Raiders ?????? not impossible.

 

[Red_Chaos]

"That same day, St. Louis city officials said 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."

St Louis Raiders ?????? not impossible.

We get to change the name and colors right?

 

[ozarkram]

Sadly this issue will only serve to further divide an already somewhat fractured fan base. With fans choosing sides an pointing fingers. Its already starting. And why? Because of billionaire owners who could give a rats ass about the game or fans. Rams fans will keep on keeping on we always do. It just seems its gonna get nasty before its done.

 

[Retroram52]

These things usually do when there is an undercurrent of animosity already in place.

 

[ksudodger]

I think we are trying our best here to keep it civil. My mantra from the jump has been this. St Louis,LA,Boise,Baton Rouge,London,Abu Dhabi.... it does not matter. ALL RAMS ALL DAY, WHEREVER THEY PLAY!

 

[ozarkram]

These things usually do when there is an undercurrent of animosity already in place.

Yeah there is no real cure for this one. I think what we have to remember is just because one lives in X and another in Y we are still about the Rams. We have no control over what happens. (maybe Vita does not sure) If they move to Moose jaw then hell I am all about the Moose jaw Rams.