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Are the Rams Heading Back to LA?

The St. Louis Rams (it still doesn't sound quite right to me) have been a success in St. Louis but have a lease problem. The Edward D. Jones Dome is now an old building, having been built in 1995. I know it's only 15 years old but by NFL standards that's old. With new stadiums coming online this year for Dallas and the two New York/New Jersey teams and with what is in the planning or construction phase, by next season, 23 stadiums will have been built or substantially renovated since the Jones Dome opened.

The Rams are currently owned by Chip Rosenbloom and Linda Rodriguez, who inherited the team from their late mother, Georgia Frontiere. Since inheriting the team, they have worked on internal operations and at solving some inheritance tax issues. Neither one wants to be a long-term owner of the team and they have searched for a local buyer for about a year. That's where Los Angeles comes in to play.

No local buyer has yet surfaced for the team. The Jones Dome stipulates that the Dome must be in the "top eight" stadiums in the league or the Rams can bolt. It is difficult to believe that the County will put up the money needed to bring the Dome into top eight status given the construction that has gone on recently, i.e. Cowboys Stadium , new Giants Stadium, Lucas Oil Field. If not, then the Rams can break the lease and are free to move anywhere they want, even back to their former home in sunny LA. Of course, that would mean working out a stadium deal in Los Angeles which hasn't been done in the ten years that Commissioner Goodell has been trying.

Stay tuned, this could get interesting.

Full post as published by Sports Biz on June 02, 2009 (boomark / email).