Rams returning to Los Angeles
HOUSTON — The Rams belong to Los Angeles once again.
The Chargers might be headed there, as well.
What about the Raiders? Who knows at this point.
What is certain is that all three franchises face serious challenges over the next few years now that the NFL has approved the relocation of the Rams from St. Louis, and given the Chargers a one-year option to join them in the nation’s second-largest media market.
Should the Chargers stay in San Diego, seemingly a long shot, the Raiders could then step in and move from Oakland to L.A.
A long Tuesday of votes and re-votes ended with 30 of 32 NFL owners approving Rams owner Stan Kroenke’s ambitious plan to move his team to the site of the old Hollywood Park racetrack in Inglewood, California, about 10 miles from downtown L.A.
The Raiders and Chargers had a competing proposal to share a new stadium in nearby Carson, but neither option got the 24 votes needed for approval. After another negotiating session in the afternoon, Kroenke’s $1.8 billion project prevailed.
The decision ends the NFL’s 21-year absence in Los Angeles.
“It is bittersweet,” Kroenke said. “We understand the emotions involved of our fans. It is not easy to do these things, they are purposely made hard."
“We made a decision and worked long and hard at the various alternatives. When they didn’t succeed, we worked this one to this point. We’re excited ...”
They also need to get busy because the preseason is seven months away, the season about eight months.
In that time, the Rams must establish their base in Southern California, find a temporary home — the Los Angeles Coliseum is likely until the Inglewood project is finished in 2019 — and keep tabs on the Chargers’ decision.
And for their first three years back, the Rams will merely be swapping one aging facility for a much older one, with even fewer of the revenue-creating features that fill modern NFL stadiums.
Still, all parties were more concerned with the potential long-range benefits.
“These projects are very large, they’re very expensive and involve a lot of people and require a lot of cooperation and a lot of patience,” said Houston owner Bob McNair, who beat out Los Angeles in a bid for an expansion franchise that debuted in 2002. “We’re quite pleased with the outcome and look forward to the development of a real NFL campus out in Los Angeles.”
The NFL also must deal with the prospect of angry fan bases in three markets — and words of warning from top elected officials.
Chargers chairman Dean Spanos declined to say whether his franchise would exercise the Los Angeles option, and San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer says the city and county “are not interested in a charade by the Chargers if they continue to pursue Los Angeles.”
Faulconer did say that negotiations were likely to continue for replacing aging Qualcomm Stadium. The city’s plan would build on the same site.
“This has really been excruciating for everyone,” Spanos said. “It’s very difficult to say right now I’m going to do this or do that.”
St. Louis had a plan for an open-air, $1.1 billion stadium along the Mississippi River north of the Gateway Arch.
