NFL Merry-Go-Round: Relocation Roundelay

[rams80]

Also, Hedley, while the St. Louis plan did officially end up listing it as G4 money, it was originally considered just other funds until they tidied up the plan. And the NFL—as far as I can tell—has given no indication that the $100 million they'll be giving to Oakland (or San Diego) is a G4 loan, I don't believe. It may indeed be a gift.

It is. In fact, the G4 fund is basically gone at this point, which is probably something else St. Louis forgot to account for in their proposal. The league would have to approach the union about anymore G4 money or a "G5" program.

[STL FANATIC]

Also, Hedley, while the St. Louis plan did officially end up listing it as G4 money, it was originally considered just other funds until they tidied up the plan. And the NFL—as far as I can tell—has given no indication that the $100 million they'll be giving to Oakland (or San Diego) is a G4 loan, I don't believe. It may indeed be a gift.

It is. In fact, the G4 fund is basically gone at this point, which is probably something else St. Louis forgot to account for in their proposal. The league would have to approach the union about anymore G4 money or a "G5" program.

While that may well be true, it's pure bologna to hold that against the St. Louis plan. It remains a program in place. Whatever market that remains in the NFL is going to get a loan from the program. And the LA stadium, despite having to work through loopholes and extra approval to be eligible, is probably going to get program funds as well.

Maybe it will have to be a new G5 program, but you know very well it's going to happen. It's silly to suggest St. Louis couldn't plan for such a loan program at all.

Anyways, here's more infuriating commentary from the man who never spoke while he owned the team in St. Louis: http://www.si.com/nfl/2016/01/19/stan-kroenke-owner-los-angeles-rams

[The_Admiral]

The Rams obviously didn't feel that the extra $100M would turn a mediocre deal into one worth taking. It wouldn't have taken a middle-of-the-road stadium and elevated it to top-tier. Nor would that extra cash have stalled the oncoming lawsuits or kept state legislators from pulling their funding.

I think by that point it was indeed too late. St. Louis had lost its chance to keep the team.

Don't you think once Kroenke bought Hollywood Park two years ago, their "chance" to keep the team was already infinitesimal at best? Even when the whole dog and pony show started, the task force framed the whole thing as building the stadium for "an NFL team" and not necessarily the Rams, because with Stan having the real estate and relative freedom to move, their only real shot at keeping the Rams was getting Big Daddy Goodell to make him sell the team, and that wasn't likely.

I'm comfortable going back to Robert Kraft interrupting the Patriots' relocation in 1993 and saying this whole thing is the Patriots' fault.

[The_Admiral]

Commissioner Goodell asked for very specific things in his letter in 2012 to the ownership concerning any team wishing to relocate to Los Angeles. That was the blueprint we used. He wanted an “iconic” stadium and an entertainment district. So an iconic stadium with an entertainment district is exactly what we created.

Goodell then revealed his CCSLC membership by adding that the stadium should not only be iconic but also pop and "scream Los Angeles."

[Gothamite]

6 hours ago, the admiral said:

The Rams obviously didn't feel that the extra $100M would turn a mediocre deal into one worth taking. It wouldn't have taken a middle-of-the-road stadium and elevated it to top-tier. Nor would that extra cash have stalled the oncoming lawsuits or kept state legislators from pulling their funding.

I think by that point it was indeed too late. St. Louis had lost its chance to keep the team.

Don't you think once Kroenke bought Hollywood Park two years ago, their "chance" to keep the team was already infinitesimal at best? Even when the whole dog and pony show started, the task force framed the whole thing as building the stadium for "an NFL team" and not necessarily the Rams, because with Stan having the real estate and relative freedom to move, their only real shot at keeping the Rams was getting Big Daddy Goodell to make him sell the team, and that wasn't likely.

I'm comfortable going back to Robert Kraft interrupting the Patriots' relocation in 1993 and saying this whole thing is the Patriots' fault.

Oh, me too.

I think Kroenke bought the land because he knew where the city was going.  There had been talk for the better part of a decade at that point, but no action.  He knew the odds of getting what he wanted in St. Louis were slim, so also knowing that an LA plan would take years, he got started.  But the land itself could be developed in any number of ways, and he's held off absolutely committing to the stadium until now. 

There were better ideas on this thread than were ever floated by anyone connected to the process.  If the city and/or state had helped him develop a larger project, given land as the public share, maybe things would have turned out differently. But the longer the process went on, the slimmer those chances became. 

[waltere]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/american-football/35360989

Meanwhile in London....

The League is apparently "fundamentally committed" to a full time franchise there within the next ten years.

[STL FANATIC]

It defies so much logic to put one team in London any time soon, but I have trouble doubting that the NFL wouldn't railroad such an idea through anyways.

[The_Admiral]

Burberry jerseys for maximum chav appeal.

[LMU]

London Raiders.

[TheOldRoman]

I think Goth would say, "They still need stadiums for the Raiders and maybe Chargers, so they have to keep the London charade up."

However, at this point I don't think it's a charade. I think the owners are dumb and Goddell has such a hard-on over London that he's planning on making this his calling card on the league. I fully believe that Goddell will go to absurd, convoluted means to give London an albatross team that it won't care about.

[Gothamite]

I might say that, if the notion wasn't so patently absurd on its face.

Nobody who's ever looked at, you know, a map, knows that it's not going to happen. 

[IceCap]

The NFL WANTS London to be the new LA. It's no coincidence that this story comes out days after LA lands a team.

Goth's right though. It's just not going to happen. The NFL, despite its infinite arrogance, cannot bend time and space to its will.

[colortv]

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/01/19/los-angeles-rams-nfl-ownership-meeting
 

The most reliable account of what happened in Houston. I say that for two reasons, 1. It's respected writer Peter King and 2. Confirmed by LA area reporter Fred Roggin, who has been on right about everything in the LA saga so far and seems to great connections with the Rams and the mayor of inglewood.

[colortv]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2609443-insider-buzz-rams-kroenke-want-chargers-in-la-deal-possible-in-next-two-weeks?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=web-des-art-top-16

Apparently the Rams don't want Raider fans around their shiny new complex.

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/20160120/oakland-hoping-chargers-pick-la-to-pounce-on-san-diego

Update from Vincent Bonsignore, who has been following the whole story closely and is a colleague of Roggin.

[colortv]

http://www.boltsfromtheblue.com/2016/1/18/10784714/san-diego-chargers-stadium-inglewood-economic-potential-money-spanos

Economic breakdown of the Chargers San Diego vs. Inglewood options.

[colortv]

http://www.therams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Rams-Announce-45000-Season-Ticket-Deposits-in-Two-Days/330d44ab-4548-48be-827d-4bd25482cc39

Rams with 45,000 season ticket deposits in two days.

[colortv]

Anyone trying to follow how the rest of this ends up I suggest following these twitters:

Jason Cole NFL

Jason La Canfora NFL

Sam Farmer NFL

Vincent Bonsignore NFL

Fred Roggin

[STL FANATIC]

4 hours ago, Ice_Cap said:

The NFL WANTS London to be the new LA. It's no coincidence that this story comes out days after LA lands a team.

Goth's right though. It's just not going to happen. The NFL, despite its infinite arrogance, cannot bend time and space to its will.

That's logical, and you SHOULD be right.

But I'm no longer going to doubt the NFL's ability to act absurdly in it's quest for money and attention.

Mark Cuban (I believe originally in the context of the NFL spreading to Thursday nights) predicted that the NFL will someday stretch itself too thin trying to dominate too much. I thought he was right then, I certainly think he's right now. London would fit that billing, and I genuinely think they might try to do it.

[Gothamite]

8 hours ago, colortv said:

http://www.therams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Rams-Announce-45000-Season-Ticket-Deposits-in-Two-Days/330d44ab-4548-48be-827d-4bd25482cc39

Rams with 45,000 season ticket deposits in two days.

And each season ticket deposit could represent between one and eight tickets - although certainly closer to the former, still very impressive. 

[The_Admiral]

What are the Rams going to do for the 1%? Are they going to be able to partition off some sections and make some sort of ersatz club seating somewhere? I think there are luxury suites in the cool-looking end of the Coliseum but for the most part it's just a great big seating bowl.