Rams to leave St. Louis?

[Dback Jon]

Tidbit from another thread...

The Rams failed to sell out three games at the outdated Edward Jones dome last season. Before that, they had only one non-sellout for 116 regular-season and playoff games since leaving Los Angeles for the Midwest before the 1995 season. The death of owner Georgia Frontiere has raised questions as to whether her children will sell the club, allowing it to be moved.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8471260/Rams-look-for-ways-to-turn-things-around

While pure speculation at this point, it raises a few questions:

How can a 13 year old stadium be outdated??

Would they move back to LA??

And if they move, does that take any heat off the Bidwills for being "bad" owners, since it would say a lot about St. Louis' inability to support the NFL

 

[Pariah]

Funny, I was just thinking about this yesterday when I was building a Madden 09 franchise (I deactivated the Rams so I could build a team in LA).

 

[TheCardFan]

I think it's a real possibility.

I am a lifelong Cardinal fan (Baseball and Football) but if your not the Redbirds, you better be winning. Pure and simple...it's a baseball town.

Baseball fans - Some of the best in the world.
Other sports - Mediocre at best.

The dome is sad and I can't see the city building another one.

 

[CardsFan88]

Wow that would be something. Who would they boo more, the cardinals for leaving town 20 years ago after not funding a stadium for years, or the Rams who left after playing in the stadium they built afterwards? Might make some heads explode.

What's kind of weird, wasn't it 14 years after the Raiders left Oakland for LA that it returned? Be kind of weird if it was 14 years after the Rams moved to LA that they would move back. I might be off by a year, and of course if sold ala Sonics, I'd think it'd take a year or two to move. I just found the possible coincidence weird.

I sure wouldn't want to be the local St. Louis small business (if possible) that tried to buy commercial time during a fox game featuring the L.A. Rams vs. Arizona Cardinals.

Isn't that dome only 15 or so years old, like finished in 1992 or 1993? It would suck only to get a 15 year return on your stadium investment.

But would it really help the Rams to move back to L.A.? There seems to be a fundamental reason why it appears they can't keep a football team. But under the right scenario and location, they probably could. It is a huge area, it's kind of hard to understand why they can't.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

And if they move, does that take any heat off the Bidwills for being "bad" owners, since it would say a lot about St. Louis' inability to support the NFL

Yes, without a doubt.

 

[Hog'sWad271]

Absolutely no doubt that the Rams would like to move, soon. I think that is the biggest reason why Scott Linehan wasn't let go. He has the competence level of a defensive line coach at BYU, or maybe the head football coach at your local community college. There would be few good reasons to keep Linehan there if the Rams organization wasn't happy to keep a losing team on the field and keep the fans from supporting any serious effort to keep the team.

St. Louis *rented* the Rams at an unbelievable cost and by exploiting the ticketholders, and the only serious fan support came predictably after the Super Bowl win. Fans and writers in STL have now either disowned the team or they act as though the '99 season happened last week. Typical Post-Dispatch column after a Rams loss: "Boy, this Rams team is sure bad compared to the Greatest Show on Turf that was in the Super Bowl, unlike this current team which is bad in comparison to the Rams' Super Bowl team, which was in the Super Bowl, that one year when there was a Super Bowl and the Rams were in it."

I'd sure like to see the Rams franchise walk, in the same year the Cardinals win the NFC Championship...poetic justice, or at least football justice.

 

[40yearfan]

The PSL's and high ticket prices have something to do with their not selling out.

 

[ARZCardinals]

Maybe...but I'm guessing it's the losing that's causing the sell out's to stop...

...bunch of bchs they are as fans...win we show....lose...we stay home...

 

[SunsTzu]

...bunch of bchs they are as fans...win we show....lose...we stay home...

No offense but I don't think valley sports fans have much high ground on this subject.

 

[black]

If the Rams left St. Louis I would laugh all day.

 

[Gee!]

If the Rams left St. Louis I would laugh all day.

Would you? WOuld you really? I would think youd be outraged.. If the Rams left you would no longer be able to see the Cards play in StL.. Think about that!

 

[black]

Would you? WOuld you really? I would think youd be outraged.. If the Rams left you would no longer be able to see the Cards play in StL.. Think about that!

A fair justice. People around here think the Cards left STL high and dry. My football team is in AZ. I'm ok with that.

 

[Gee!]

A fair justice. People around here think the Cards left STL high and dry. My football team is in AZ. I'm ok with that.

Ok fair enuff..

I talk to folks in StL every now and then from my job.. I ask em if they are Rams fans .. Half say yes.. So I ask if they were Cards fans before.. They say they still hold a special place in their hearts and queitly cheer on the Cards while supporting the Rams.. It definitly is a city divided.. Rams never got a fair chance out there.. Prolly why they are half assing it on the sellouts these days..

 

[black]

Ok fair enuff..

I talk to folks in StL every now and then from my job.. I ask em if they are Rams fans .. Half say yes.. So I ask if they were Cards fans before.. They say they still hold a special place in their hearts and queitly cheer on the Cards while supporting the Rams.. It definitly is a city divided.. Rams never got a fair chance out there.. Prolly why they are half assing it on the sellouts these days..

Never got a fair chance? The city opens its arms to the Rams, everyone wearing Rams gear. Then they got really good in a new stadium. Ya they had their time in the sun now its ours.

 

[Gee!]

Never got a fair chance? The city opens its arms to the Rams, everyone wearing Rams gear. Then they got really good in a new stadium. Ya they had their time in the sun now its ours.

Blah..Let me put it perspective.. Its like getting dumped by the woman youve been in love with for decades, the one youve come to love all her faults, all her warts, you love everything about her without any regard .. Then one day she up and divorces you.. Then one day her hot sister is down on her luck and needs a prop to get back on her on her feet.. You welcome her into your house without regard with the sole intention of getting back at your ex.. Youll show her.. Then you accidently knock her up and she turns out to be Robobitch.. Then you have a moment of clarity.. What did I just do? Thats StL in regards to football.. The ones that supported the Rams at least..

 

[HooverDam]

For those asking how can the Edward Jones Dome be outdated already, ask the Seattle Sonics. The Key Arena is about the same age. I've seen a game in the EJ Dome, and I have to say its pretty terrible. Its extremely bland in almost every way. Its certainly not dilapidated, its just, so freakin' bland. It really has no distinguishing features and it has a pretty lame atmosphere.

All that being said, it would still be surprising to me to see the Rams move after only 15 years there. LA really can't lure them unless they actually get the ball rolling on a brand new stadium, upgrades to the Coliseum won't be enough I'd think.

 

[Hog'sWad271]

Gee...

Keep in mind that the Rams were not necessarily a "hot chick" franchise when they came in to STL. The Cardinals were a stronger team at the time (barely) and showed it by beating the Rams a few times. After the honeymoon wore off, the STL fans were openly mocking their last-place team until POOF! Dick Vermeil whipped them into a winner. Then of course everyone had been right there with 'em the whole time. We used to joke about making everyone in a Rams jacket take a polygraph. "When did you buy that jacket?" "I got it well before last sea...BUZZ"

I like the Ed Jones Dome. It's easy to get around in, the lighting doesn't bother me so much and the staff are a lot kinder than in the other big buildings in STL. If the building hosted a respectable team in a respectable town I'd probably buy season tix. I don't need a football stadium to look like a casino outside of the field view, but that's just me.

 

[Gee!]

Keep in mind that the Rams were not necessarily a "hot chick" franchise when they came in to STL. The Cardinals were a stronger team at the time (barely) and showed it by beating the Rams a few times. After the honeymoon wore off, the STL fans were openly mocking their last-place team until POOF! Dick Vermeil whipped them into a winner. Then of course everyone had been right there with 'em the whole time. We used to joke about making everyone in a Rams jacket take a polygraph. "When did you buy that jacket?" "I got it well before last sea...BUZZ"

I like the Ed Jones Dome. It's easy to get around in, the lighting doesn't bother me so much and the staff are a lot kinder than in the other big buildings in STL. If the building hosted a respectable team in a respectable town I'd probably buy season tix. I don't need a football stadium to look like a casino outside of the field view, but that's just me.

Um.. She was hot cuz she was of the same blood and a way to get back at the Cards..

 

[black]

"EJ Dome is the candy mountain Charlie."

 

[TruColor]

For those asking how can the Edward Jones Dome be outdated already, ask the Seattle Sonics. The Key Arena is about the same age.

You really can't compare the Edward Jones Dome to KeyArena...KeyArena was a retrofit of the old Seattle Center Coliseum which was built in 1962. They basically just tore down the old Coliseum down to the foundation and built the KeyArena on top of the old one - which was part of the problem with the new place - it still had the older, smaller footprint and made for smaller concourses. That, combined with the fact that they went cheap on the rest of the amenities (i.e., luxury suites) - it was just a bad series of decisions that led to this whole debacle of what we will come to know as the Oklahoma City Thunder (ooops...did I just say that?!!).

 

[TheCardFan]

Blah..Let me put it perspective.. Its like getting dumped by the woman youve been in love with for decades, the one youve come to love all her faults, all her warts, you love everything about her without any regard .. Then one day she up and divorces you.. Then one day her hot sister is down on her luck and needs a prop to get back on her on her feet.. You welcome her into your house without regard with the sole intention of getting back at your ex.. Youll show her.. Then you accidently knock her up and she turns out to be Robobitch.. Then you have a moment of clarity.. What did I just do? Thats StL in regards to football.. The ones that supported the Rams at least..

Sounds very familiar to a love story about Jake Plummer...a long long time ago.

 

[az jam]

Put a winning team on the field and the Rams will sell out once again.

 

[RedViper]

I have nothing against St.Louis and have become much fonder of the place since becoming a Cards fan. I love the stories about the St. Louis Cardinals, all the great players from that era. I'm sorry for their fans that got their hearts ripped out when our team pulled up stakes. I thought that would happen here too until the 2000 ballot initiative passed.

It sounds like they are in the same boat the Cardinals are in here. They need to build and keep fan support by not sucking all the time. They need to keep prices reasonable. They shouldn't be soaking their fans with ridiculous PSL's. If they want their product to sell they need to earn it. If that franchise just pulls up stakes because they feel they can no longer get that city to give them any ridiculous concession they ask for, then I hope the city they move to realizes what they are getting. If they think they'll get that in LA, LA seems very comfortable flipping the bird to any team that asks for anything. I don't think its happening. And I would hope the league would show some guts and nix any move from a city that built a stadium 12 years ago. That would set a real nice precedent, to ensure no one else ever publicly funds one of these things. The rams better suck it up and make the most of what they've got. They've got a big market, a new stadium. If they can't make a go of it, they should fold up the franchise.

 

[TJ]

Last count, there are fabout five franchises who have threatened to move out of their current location, and all have used LA as a barganing chip to get what they want from their current home site. Disregard any of the reports you've heard: L.A. wants a professional NFL franchise and its ludacris that it has been 14 years since they have had one (but goes to show the economic stability of the NFL when you don't have a location in the 2nd largest US market).

If I were a betting man, id put $2 on Jacksonville and $1 on Buffalo

 

[RedViper]

If I were a betting man, id put $2 on Jacksonville and $1 on Buffalo

Two good bets. IMO, Jacksonville makes the best case for a move because even with playoff teams they seem to struggle with attendance. They can't even make the argument that the product isn't viable. It seems like the NFL just picked a bad market when they awarded that team. I can see San Diego getting fed up at some point too, although I think there is currently some kind of plan or idea for a new stadium in Oceanside. See if that goes anywhere.