From Farmers Fields to an old Chrysler plant, thinking about the Rams future home

by Ryan Van Bibber on Feb 1, 2011 9:25 AM CST in St. Louis Rams news

For now, the St. Louis Rams call the Ed Jones Dome home, but the forces of economics are expected to change that by the year 2015.

At issue is whether or not the Rams will stay in St. Louis, be it the city or metro area. A yet-to-be-built stadium development in downtown Los Angeles owned by AEG will announce today that they've agreed to a naming rights deal with Farmers Insurance, a 30-year deal worth $700 million.

The downtown stadium and a suburban LA sports complex being developed by Ed Roski are expected to lure an NFL team back to Los Angeles (again) in the near future. Whether or not that team is the St. Louis Rams remains to be seen; there are other teams that could relocate as well, including Jacksonville, San Diego and even Minnesota (though that seems least likely). In 2014, the Rams reach an out clause in their lease with the Ed Jones Dome, in which they're freed from the agreement if the stadium is not among the top quarter of facilities, which it won't be.

Rams owner Stan Kroenke knows a thing or two about real estate, having made his billion dollar fortune that way with a heavy emphasis on Wal-Mart Supercenters and the accompanying strip malls. Stadiums are where the real money is with NFL ownership, just ask Dan Snyder and Jerry Jones. Kroenke knows that and bought a wonderful opportunity to develop a stadium of his own with the Rams.

LA isn't the only possibility for the Rams circa 2015. Kroenke was once in the bidding for a huge tract of land in Fenton, MO, once the home of a Chrysler plant, a recent casualty of imperial decay. A recent arrangement with Fenton and the state of MO created an enterprise zone (i.e. favorable tax deals to spur development), a tool used by Kroenke on numerous occasions from developing Supercenters to the Pepsi Center in Denver.

One way or another, Farmers Field or some rusted hulk of a monument to Lee Iacocca, the Rams will have a new home in 2015.

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Honestly?

I think they are moving to LA.

Number 8 is great

by Eric Nagel on Feb 1, 2011 10:44 AM CST reply actions

as long as Jacksonville (fans? what fans?), Minnesotta (crappy stadium), and San Diego (stadium and fan support issues)

have NFL teams, I feel the Rams are pretty safe…if they move though, it’s going to break my heart.

by RamsFan7 on Feb 1, 2011 10:49 AM CST up reply actions

That may be true

but I still think it will be the Rams who move to LA

Number 8 is great

by Eric Nagel on Feb 1, 2011 10:53 AM CST up reply actions

How much of that is based on your desires

and how much on facts?

Is it possible that the Rams will move back to LA? Sure. Is it all that likely? Probably not. That’s my read of the situation. The Fenton location is a perfect one for a new stadium, with easy access from I-44 and lots of incentives for someone to build something on the site of the two former Chrysler plants. The old claim that the stadium has to be in the city of St. Louis to support the city has gotten old and probably wouldn’t carry that much weight in a decision two or three years from now. The economy will have improved by then so state and local government budgets will no longer be so tight. Everything is lining up perfectly for building a new stadium there.

Either way, by the end of the 2014 season I may be old enough to give up my season tickets, so it won’t matter that much to me.

by andyhawk on Feb 1, 2011 11:09 AM CST up reply actions

SD has stadium issues....

but they never struck me as having fan support issues (but I don’t live there so I could be wrong).

I should be working right now...

by gorams77 on Feb 1, 2011 10:59 AM CST up reply actions

They are not moving to L.A - Do you actually think they would agree to build a statium without already have a team lined up. I am sure they are already working on a deal and I don't see that the RAMS are in the running for this.

by BrettSpokane on Feb 1, 2011 11:24 AM CST up reply actions

let the "LA dont deserve a team" jerkoffs begin

Bottom line Stan is a business man….he’s not going to stand by and watch as teams move into the second biggest market in the country…he was on the bring a team to LA committee, why not his own?….there’s already a fan base, they won’t have to re-align the divisions at all…it just makes sense. AIG will not get approval to build if they go after CA teams….chargers, raider, niners are out…despite all the talk of chargers to LA….Right now Rams and Jags are leading contenders to come to LA

by JordansDad on Feb 1, 2011 11:03 AM CST via mobile reply actions

and along with those comments

comes the incessant bitching about how LA is going to FINALLY get the Rams back after all these years of suffering. Poor them.

How about both sides drop this stupid shit?

"Now there are three rules that I live by: never get less than twelve hours of sleep; never play cards with a guy who's got the same first name as a city; and never go near a lady who has a tattoo of a dagger on her body. Now you stick to that, and everything else is cream cheese." - Coach Bobby Finstock

by FailureDrill on Feb 1, 2011 12:11 PM CST up reply actions

IMO at this present date

By 2012 the Rams have a REAL shot (or already ) at being Superbowl champs. Just watch how the conversation changes by that time. The whole aura of who wants the Rams will have changed.

by Knoxfan on Feb 1, 2011 11:19 AM CST reply actions

They're not going to LA

And that’s coming from facts AND desire.
I now have some “family” in MO, so I have an excuse to go to more Rams games in future :)

….saying that, they better not move

Needed: Ping Pong table. Anyone wanna donate $78 million?

by sergey606 on Feb 1, 2011 11:47 AM CST reply actions

got family in the area as well :)

though i would be nice to have more then 3 “home” games a year, hehe counting 1 family visit and the sf/card games.

by OcRamfan on Feb 1, 2011 12:31 PM CST up reply actions

After we light it up

for the next few seasons, St. Louis will not want the Rams to go any where and will fight tooth and nail to get Stan to stay here. i.e. tax breaks, public contributions, etc.

They will notice and they will giggle.

by papapegasus on Feb 1, 2011 12:42 PM CST reply actions

I don't know all the details

so maybe someone can fill me in on the LA stadium plan specifics…..but if I am Stan, I want ownership of it all. I would think that he would be attracted to a setting where he is the owner of both the team and the stadium/venue as to make $$ directly off of both.

IIRC (and I may not be), in the Roski/City of Industry stadium plan – Roski would be the owner of the venue right (I believe he was also looking for partial ownership of a team as well)? If so, I can’t imagine that is very attractive to SK (who I believe also owns the Pepsi Center where the Nuggets play in Denver) – does anyone know the stadium ownership split with the AEG proposal? Again, if AEG owns the stadium and retains profits from – I cant imagine that would be as attractive to SK as owning a stadium as well as the team (which he may be able to accomplish in the StL area).

I have never been opposed to a move back to LA and have actually advocated it if the NFL moves to a MLB-like non salary capped world (like Jerry Jones wishes for) after this CBA negotiations. That being said, I think SK will go where he can have the most control of all $$ generated by both team AND venue.

I should be working right now...

by gorams77 on Feb 1, 2011 1:25 PM CST reply actions

I hope they come back to LA

Out of all those teams listed, makes more sense for either The Rams or Jags, but more than anything The Rams. They were already a team out here, have a huge old school fan base and why wouldn’t they jump on the opportunity of a new stadium?

"Well... You're damned if you do, and You're damned if you don't."- Bart Simpson

by poundnground on Feb 1, 2011 2:52 PM CST via mobile reply actions

I hope they come back to LA

"Well... You're damned if you do, and You're damned if you don't."- Bart Simpson

by poundnground on Feb 1, 2011 2:52 PM CST via mobile reply actions

Because the owners make big bucks from owning the stadium

and that isn’t going to happen with either of the current LA proposals. Further, the stadium in town that started this thread only seats 64,000, while the current St. Louis stadium seats 67,000. Why would Kroenke move his team to a smaller stadium that he doesn’t own?

by andyhawk on Feb 1, 2011 3:33 PM CST up reply actions

i'll tell you why its the rams....most likely

Because AIG won’t get approval to build if they go after a CA team….what sense would it make for the state to okay the moving of a team from within the state if it damages the economy there?…..once again, Stan is a businessman…he’ll go where the money is…he’s not gonna stay in MO when the only time they support the team is when they’re winning…at least CA area is big enough that if there is a losing seAson or more…the area will still support the team….

by JordansDad on Feb 1, 2011 5:11 PM CST via mobile reply actions

Really?

If LA was too big to not support a team then why did they lose two teams? Sounds like a load of BS to me. StL supported the Rams through the lean years in the beginning. Support has only recently started to fall off and that was after several absolutely brutal seasons. If you look at the local TV ratings you would come to the conclusion that the local fans are interested in supporting the team but the poor economy is keeping a lot away. The current stadium isn’t fancy not it’s not as bad as people like to make it out. I don’t think it’s a certainty that football will not be played there outside of 2015. It would seem that a new stadium either at the Fenton location or across the river in Illinois would be favorable to Mr Kronke if he wanted to invest in a stadium. Having two states getting into a bidding war makes a stadium much more likely to happen in the StL area than in LA. Last time I checked CA was a tough place to get through all the needed red tape- there’s a reason they blew what should have been their expansion team. I would suspect we’d see the NFL agree to expanding before we see any movement of teams as it sends the wrong signal and image about the League.

Also to the people that actually matter in LA it makes no difference what team they bring in. It’s only a small group of diehard fans that really care.

The other problem facing those wishing for the Rams to relocate to LA is this. The Rams are on the cusp of being a really good team and one thing I know is StL will support a winning team like nowhere else. I see attendance coming back to what it was in the early 2000s and if this in fact happens there is no way they move.

If I were a LA Rams fan I wouldn’t get my hopes up.

by Sggladden on Feb 1, 2011 8:36 PM CST via mobile up reply actions

While Kroenke might be a businessman

He still lives in Missouri. Why, I dunno. But he does.

He moves the Rams, he’s not going to be welcome here.

While he might move with the Rams, like Bidwill did when he moved the Cardinals around from town to town. But at the same time, that he hasn’t already moved shows he probably does live here for a reason.

by DiscoJer on Feb 2, 2011 1:54 AM CST up reply actions