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NFL Merry-Go-Round: Relocation Roundelay


duma

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Is there any reason that both the Rams and Jags might head to LA? Set up a groundshare like in New York. Would that work, or is that too much like going back to the 80s?

It'll probably happen, but the Chargers seem likely to head to LA, so only one of the Rams and Jaguars would probably go.

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Is there any reason that both the Rams and Jags might head to LA? Set up a groundshare like in New York. Would that work, or is that too much like going back to the 80s?

And again, I'm about 90% sure Khan wouldn't buy the team and move them to LA. I'm of course speculating (as we all are about everything), but that just doesn't seem to be his style.

That doesn't mean he wouldn't then flip them to someone who would, I just don't see him being the owner of a team in LA.

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Just out of curiosity, why not?

I can see the logic of thinking he'd keep a team in St. Louis, but why would he keep a team in a struggling market to which he has no attachment, when LA (and, not coincidentally, a massive increase in franchise value) is sitting there for the taking?

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The Chargers are so inept that I can see them sitting on the LA option until the Jags have beaten them to it.

Honestly I think that's the only thing that would keep the Chargers in SD other than an unlikely stadium is the Spanos family's ineptitude. If there is an ownership group out there that could botch the transaction it's them. God knows it's what the radio homers in SD are hoping for. They practically spluged themselves with excitement this morning after Jacksonville's sale was announced.

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I've always liked the St. Louis Jaguars/LA Rams scenario. A St. Louis/Indianapolis/Nashville/Houston division is rather tidy.

Of course, I'm not a huge believer in St. Louis as an NFL town, and I hate their ugly dome, but it's better than Jacksonville.

But yeah, this is pretty big. Came out of nowhere.

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and the team is so bad right now they're on the verge of an all out fan revolt the likes of which the team has never seen.

I highly doubt that.

You're not in SD. These people nearly revolt after playoff seasons that don't end well. After not making the playoffs this year and now not making them this year with AJ Smith still entrenched as GM... It's going to show in the form of blackouts for the rest of the year and likely into next year.

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Just out of curiosity, why not?

I can see the logic of thinking he'd keep a team in St. Louis, but why would he keep a team in a struggling market to which he has no attachment, when LA (and, not coincidentally, a massive increase in franchise value) is sitting there for the taking?

I didn't say I thought he'd keep the team in Jacksonville necessarily.

It's because from what I know about him (again, lots of speculation here), he's not a big city, big lights guy. He's a family guy who's roots are in the midwest. I don't think he'd spend a great deal of time in LA. That can work with owners for some teams... I'm not sure that can work in a huge market like LA. He's not particularly about attention.

He has his family name on the Tennis complex here at U of I, but outside of that, he's really not much for attention. He donates many dollars to the University and others, but he isn't in the public eye much at all. He's just not an LA guy.

Maybe he could make the long-distance relationship (if you will) work. But I don't know if it could.

He is a businessman, and a very shrewd one, and he may well cash in on the LA market with a team that seems like a strong candidate to move. But I'm not sure cashing in and owning the team in LA are the exact same thing.

And then you could get into the theories that we've all already discussed. I don't think it's necessarily all that unlikely that a lot of forethought has gone into this. He may be going into this under a vision that he'll wind up owning a team (one or the other) in St. Louis. Who knows.

I'll close by once again acknowledging I'm speculating. It's just my hunch.

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Of course, I'm not a huge believer in St. Louis as an NFL town...

I just don't get this. If there's 32 teams, there's no doubt St. Louis is one of the 32 best markets (and I'd say they're higher than that) as far as a city (people and businesses) being willing to purchase tickets.

Stadium issues complicate things. I get that. But the fans and businesses absolutely support NFL football.

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The stadium is the big issue to me, yeah. Also, there's the fact that the Rams have done such a piss-poor job with marketing relative to the other teams. You have a far-reaching secular religion with the Cardinals, a highly dedicated and larger-than-average fanbase for the Blues, but the Rams don't really have either. They're just a team, I guess.

Winning a Super Bowl with an evangelical Christian really, if you'll pardon the expression, saved their ass. Take away 1999, and look how many years that St. Louis has either had a crappy team or no team at all. It's just never felt like an essential part of the NFL footprint to me (I still remember when they didn't have a team), though again, it's still more essential than Jacksonville.

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

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Everything you said is basically true. But most of your criticisms are of the organization in St. Louis and not the St. Louis market. Only the dome is kind of a reflection on the St. Louis market and that's really more about unfortunate timing and planning (bad lease, old stadium, bad economics nationwide, and general stubbornness from any locale to build stadiums anymore) than being a bad market.

In fact, most everything you described make the support the Rams have had all that much more impressive.

Good article on that here: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bernie-miklasz/bernie-rams-fans-don-t-owe-kroenke-anything/article_cbedfb56-9e49-5382-a0f2-6b69bb5f8e86.html

Take out the Greatest Show on Turf years and the Rams have gone 59-130 since being in St. Louis. And they've only had to black out 9 games. And yes, a lot of avoided blackouts are businesses buying up the remaining tickets, but the point is that the support from fans and businesses is there. And if they were even decently competitive, we wouldn't even be discussing fan support. It would be strictly stadium at that point.

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I will say what I said last time. Wait and see, I will be right. I was about them in 08. I was right to the T.

Mac, The Bucs are using Jaguar tactics to try and gain more sales. It worked for the Jags. Yes, they are a success right now. A lot of blackouts in the league now. TV isn't what it was like in 88.

What happened to your "local billionaire" you touted a month ago?

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It's basically a giant, average arena. Nothing too spectacular for football. It's great for the Final Four and NCAA tourney games and concerts and such.

Hypothetically, how early could the Jags possibly leave? Are we looking at maybe next year, or will they need to wait longer?

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