AEG approaches St. Louis Rams & four others about purchase and relocation

by Ryan Van Bibber on Jun 10, 2011 10:04 AM CDT in St. Louis Rams sale

The St. Louis Rams, emphasis on St. Louis, are one of five teams that have been approached by sports and entertainment giant AEG about a potential purchase and relocation to Los Angeles. AEG is leading the charge to build Farmer's Field next to the Staples Center, owned by AEG, in downtown LA. Nabbing a team would go along way toward making that stadium project a reality. The other four teams are the Chargers, Jaguars, Raiders and Vikings.

So how likely is a Rams move under this scenario?

If AEG is interested in purchasing a majority stake in a franchise, as suggested by the report, that would almost have to rule out the St. Louis Rams, purchased less than a year ago by billionaire developer Stan Kroenke. Kroenke already owned a minority stake in the Rams and jumped at the chance after Illinois auto parts magnate Shahid Kahn made an initial offer for the share owned by George Frontier's children. Kroenke selling a majority of the franchise he just purchased seems unlikely, very unlikely. The CBA issue is going to be settled, sooner or later, and the league is on the verge of at least $11 billion in revenues this season. Kroenke isn't going to sell with franchise valuations set to rise exponentially in the coming years. Another reason Silent Stan may be less apt to sell: owning a stadium is big money.

The real money is in owning a stadium, something Kroenke is well aware of as a real estate developer and the fact that he owns the Pepsi Center where his, er, his son's pro teams, the NBA Nuggets and the NHL Avalanche, play in Denver. Buying the Rams when he did, Kroenke also bought a chance to develop his own stadium for the team, something that's been very profitable for owners like Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder.

None of this is to rule out the possibility of the Rams moving to LA. However, if owning a venue is a central as it would seem to be for Kroenke's plans, LA might be a tough market to crack for the Rams since other developers are building the stadiums. Like I said, anything can happen though.

Right now, if AEG is trying to angle in as a majority stake holder, the Vikings, with their stadium issues, or the Chargers, who also want a new home, make much more sense. The Jacksonville Jaguars seem like much more realistic possibility than the Rams at this point too, though I'm not as familiar with their issues, other than the struggles of being a small market team.

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Music to my ears

I don’t think AEG owning the team is as important as having a team here. Afterall, AEG is actually seeking 2 teams for LA. So does that mean they want to own two teams? I doubt it. Afterall is said and done Stan is a businessman and will go where the money is….he doesn’t own the dome, so will not owning Farmers Field be a big deal? Come home Rams…Let the “LA lost two teams” weak and old argument begin….

by JordansDad on Jun 10, 2011 10:34 AM CDT via mobile reply actions

+1!

My two favorite teams, the St. Louis Rams and whoever's playing the winers.

by caliramsfan1 on Jun 10, 2011 5:05 PM CDT up reply actions

I don't want to be a schmuck

But I really see Kroenke moving the team when he has the chance…he’s a business man, plain and simple, and LA is a huge market. AEG isn’t talking about some old stadium, they are talking about a two billion dollar massive sports complex in downtown LA.

I think that is something St. Louis just can’t offer, unless they turn the dome into a parking lot and start new, which probably isn’t going to happen.

But hey, what do I know, I’m in Seattle.

"Doin' blow off a strippers nipple" -VanRam

by Eric Nagel on Jun 10, 2011 10:57 AM CDT reply actions

+1

by JordansDad on Jun 10, 2011 9:03 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions

Thoughts on LA

1. I really don’t see the Rams moving back to LA because LA isn’t a good football town (demonstrated by the lack of football since the Rams came to St. Louis and the Raiders returned to Oakland) and because Stan Kroenke is a native Missourian who, I believe, will do his best to keep the team in St. Louis.

2. If either Minnesota or Jacksonville wind up moving to LA, realignment is certain. If it’s the Vikings, I expect them to swap divisions with the Rams. If it’s Jacksonville, I expect them to swap divisions with the Chefs. Either way, Missouri would feel the effects of realignment.

by Ski Dawg on Jun 10, 2011 12:02 PM CDT reply actions

Lack of NFL football is due to lack of interest?

I think there is more to it than that. If a cornfield can have enough interest then the country’s second biggest city can definately fill stadiums.

Plus if the vikings move to LA then I’m done with football.

by LARams1968 on Jun 10, 2011 6:19 PM CDT up reply actions

Ski you had me interestested until you came up with the same old tired argument

“LA isn’t a good football town” is a very ignorant and uneducated comment. St Loo lost the Cards so we just lost one more team than St Loo…see how silly that sounds….Rams left LA because Georgia who was from Missouri wanted to bring a team to her hometown….please come up with a better argument

by JordansDad on Jun 10, 2011 9:02 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions

The NFL has changed dramatically since 1995

Basically the area of LA was run by a bunch of dinks who didn’t give a flip about football. That has as much to do with why Georgia left as a desire to move back home. Granted the teams in LA at this time were notoriously underpeformers in terms of per capata attendance… their gate wasn’t atrocious but it wasn’t what it should have been and yes a very large part of that was do to stadium issues. St. Louis was stuck with an empty stadium when the NFL basically screwed them to pioneer uncharted waters in Charolette and Jacksonville. Ironically we now see Jacksonville struggling. StL was a great move for the Rams. Fast forward to present day. The NFL has become the hot ticket status item for metro areas and LA has become shut out of the party. They have the Money, population and infrastructure but they made poor decisions in the past and in some strange way it’s almost a strange sort of justice that they have been shut out of the League this long. Ultimately we’ll see a team in LA. I just hope it’s not the Rams. Slowly but surely the team is growing a following and in time I can see it becoming as loyal of a fan base as a team like the Steelers. LA will most likely do fine at supporting their ultimate team financially but in my opinion LA is too much of a front running town to ever gain that crazy widespread citywide support although there are pockets of great fans there… just too many “LakersFans” watering their numbers down.

by Sggladden on Jun 10, 2011 9:31 PM CDT up reply actions

Chiefs would likely fight a move out of the West.

We have played the Chargers, Broncos, and Raiders as our natural rivals since the beginning of the AFL. The Raiders/Broncos games are the most important of the year. The AFL connections are going to be as hard fought as the Dallas/Washington rivalry.

by laynejw on Jun 12, 2011 11:29 AM CDT up reply actions

I think it's a possiblity

As others have said stan is a businessman and will most likely go where the money takes him and there’s no better place than LA plus he’ll get a new stadium. That brings in more revenue and more money in his pocket. stan wants his own stadium which this would give him and Missouri can’t compete in that aspect. But like you said anything could happen.

Sam Bradford to Austin Pettis
Kinda has a ring to it

by RG31 on Jun 10, 2011 12:31 PM CDT reply actions

Moving to this new stadium

wouldn’t give him “his own stadium”. The developers are not going to give him the stadium, and it wouldn’t be his anymore than the Ed in St. Louis is his. Further, the seating capacity isn’t going to be much different from the Ed, which seats 67,000. The only real advantage he would get is the TV money, which is definitely worth something.

If he really wants his “own” stadium he likely will build it in the St. Louis area. Only if he could negotiate a good enough deal with the developers would he move to LA, and it’s hard to see why they would give him that good a deal when they are investing all the money to build the stadium.

Bottom line, it is possible he would move the Rams to LA, but it isn’t real likely.

by andyhawk on Jun 10, 2011 5:36 PM CDT up reply actions

I'm not all that sure of how a Ram move back would go

Being from CA and a fan that endurred the Ram’s move, the Raider’s moving in, then out, then saying they owned the rights to LA…

My thinking is the Jags have the best chance at being accepted, cost less and actually the only team that needs to move. They wouldn’t be fighting history and would be easier for LA fans since a generation has passed since the Ram’s move.

Moving the Ram’s back would only make the St. Louis fans experience what I did long ago and I don’t wish that on anyone. An example would be that many in St. Louis loved Georgia Frontierre. I can tell you that most “Old” LA Rams fans never forgave her.

The one reason Kroenke may like the idea of LA is yes, loads of possible money, with an emphasis on POSSIBLE. Football has been gone so long and everything is so bloody expensive now in CA, I’m not sure how Angelenos will react or even pay for a ticket. Soccer has become rather big in LA, so Kroenke may see an opportunity to stage games with his Manchicker U soccer team in CA. Believe it or not, I think they would sell more tickets for a live game than an NFL team would.

The Cable sales would be huge for an NFL team in LA. In fact a new stadium there could be built cheaply with a green screen surrounding the field so Dreamworks can dub in a huge crowd that isn’t really there…

The Rams, Chargers and Vikings should stay put. Besides, if they try and move the Vikings, Bud Grant will become a terrorist and attack the NFL with lefse (lufsa) and pickled Herring.

by Douglas M on Jun 10, 2011 12:44 PM CDT reply actions

St. Louis already felt the pain.

St. Louis already lost the gridbirds. Turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Got to see some real football for a while. We know the feeling of disgust you have towards Georgia, we have that towards Bidwell and his bow tie. Re-location sucks. They shouldn’t do that to us fans.

by Tini Ram on Jun 10, 2011 3:49 PM CDT up reply actions

I forgot you all have been through this before. No one deserves what LA and St.Louis have had to go through. It shouldn't be allowed a second time!

St. Louis is my team’s home. Though I have to admit it took a while for acceptance to sink in…:-) I hope to God the NFL doesn’t allow it all to happen again.

The Jags need a change. Garage sales in Jacksonville draw bigger crowds.

by Douglas M on Jun 10, 2011 4:33 PM CDT up reply actions

Stan wants to own the team

I just don’t see Stan moving the team and giving up control. History shows he likes to OWN teams. Sure I think he will use the LA group for leverage but only to squeeze what he can out of the taxpayers of St. Louis. He will get what he wants even in this continuing poor economy. Based on Devaney’s comments it sounds like they want to upgrade the Edward Jones Dome. It’s not like he has a bad deal – 250k rent a year and he gets the concessions. No 700 million dollar loan like Jerry Jones has to pay off. Sorry Cal fans I just don’t see the Rams moving back to LA.

by 2cents on Jun 10, 2011 6:03 PM CDT reply actions

Look for Stand to either

Buy the Ameica’s Center/Ed Jones Dome or build his own multi use complex. I believe he has been linked to the old Chrsyler plant in Fenton. I just don’t see Stan moving the Rams out of the St. Louis area. People can talk the LA deal up all they want but at the end of the day he can EASILY make just as much money staying put. Assuming the economy doesn’t completely go into the toilet. What people fail to realize is any gain from the LA market would be eaten up and eclipsed by the increase in expenses. All he would really get would be the glitz and glamor of having celebrities at games- BARF!!! Building in St Louis will cost him half as much and cost him half as much to operate. Plus in St Louis he won’t have hundreds of yahoos telling him what he can and can’t do.

There is no way the Vikings would move… they just want the threat to swing a sweet stadium deal. Jacksonville’s franchise should have bee awarded to StL in the first place but I suspect the NFL would put pressure to not see a team relocate cross country. The Chargers and Raiders seem to be natural choices to move into the LA complex. The moves would leave most of their fan bases in tact. The Chargers and Raiders both desperately need better facilities. Don’t know the Chargers ownership situation but Al Davis can’t be long for this world so when he passes it would be a prime time to buy the Raiders.

I understand the pipe dream of the old time LA Rams fans to get the team back but I’m afraid most of the speculation is based more on wishful thinking than reality. Funny thing is once the Cardinals moved to AZ they were pretty much dead to StL. I find it fascinating that there are still so many LA Rams fans. I guess they had more success than the football Cardials.

by Sggladden on Jun 10, 2011 9:03 PM CDT reply actions

Nooooo! That was my idea!!

The old Chysler Plant is the by far the most perfect area / spot for a new stadium. It already has the size of land while also being one of the easiest places to commute to. 2 major highways intersect a quarter mile from the olf plant, 270 and 44 and highway 55 and 44 are less than 10 minutes from the stadium as well. Also, the stadium would be out of the city, I know personally I would like it to stay down town, but if it’s best for the community, fans and the Rams then I’m all for it. Love the idea, but it’s my idea! Haha

Anyway, yeah the Rams aren’t moving. LA is more concerned with watching Lindsey Lohan drive drunk or getting upskirt shots of Brittany Spears while caring more about Charlie Sheen’s new phrase than a sports franchise. Every team with the exception of the Lakers are bad. Also, the Rams have m,ore history here in St.Louis in it’s 17 years than it did in LA in it’s 50 years.

I also think it’s funny to see some “new” posters joining TST just to comment on the team leaving the StL. Well, they aren’t and you cry babies can dream and wish all you want. Bradford and the Rams will stay in St.Louis and you flakes will get the sorry ass Jags,

by DaFranchiZe on Jun 11, 2011 11:39 AM CDT up reply actions