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I have a funny feeling that that (Kroenke leaving no matter what the League says) is the way it's going to happen.

What makes you think Jerry Jones of all people would be mistaken about what owners can or can't do?

I agree. I was simply laughing at the bluntness of the statement. It even further proves that the owners literally don't give a single fuck about anything "the league" says.
 

RamBill

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Snead doesn't think relocation threat will affect free agency
• By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_1bdeccee-ba5a-5cd3-a944-a58dc51e9856.html

The topic of relocation barely came up during the just-completed regular season for the Rams.

About the only time it was a subject of discussion with coach Jeff Fisher and Rams players came in mid-November when Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon announced the formation of a two-man task force – Dave Peacock and Dave Blitz – to press forward with a stadium plan to keep the Rams from heading west to Los Angeles.

Peacock and Blitz announced the St. Louis plan Friday. But the fact that Rams owner Stan Kroenke reached an agreement to build a stadium in Inglewood, Calif., plans that were announced four days earlier, could make the Rams lame ducks in 2015.

In November, players said almost to a man that the possibility wasn’t a distraction — that they hadn’t really thought about it, and that they were just worried about that week’s game. But by the time they open training camp in 2015, returning players will have had an entire offseason to think about it and wonder what may lie ahead.

Even with the largely positive reaction to the Peacock and Blitz plan in St. Louis, the specter of the Inglewood project will loom over the 2015 season, in the locker room and on the practice field at Rams Park.

Fisher will do his best with the players to avoid making a possible move a distraction. But long before the games begin again for the Rams, it’ll be interesting to see what happens in March when the free agency period begins.

The Rams will have to lure free agents to St. Louis knowing full well the facility they show them may not be the facility they’ll use in 2016.

General manager Les Snead doesn’t think any of that will be an issue once the free agency period begins March 10.

“What you’re finding is, I think as you guys know, money’s No. 1 and it’s usually who’s coaching there next,” Snead told reporters last week.

The actual location of the franchise is a distant third, if that.

“We’ve gotten to this era of free agency where especially with the window of early negotiation, players aren’t taking visits any more,” Snead said.

For the past couple of years, teams are allowed to negotiate with prospective free agents for three days before the actual start of the signing period in March. That’s part of the reason free-agent tours around the country are basically a thing of the past.

That was becoming the case even before the advent of the three-day negotiating period. Players simply ask their peers what the city’s like, what the coach is like, and proceed from there.

So in most cases, at least with the first wave of higher profile free agents, players visit only one place – the city where they’re signing. They go out to dinner with team officials, meet the coaching staff, take a physical and sign the deal.

And let’s face it, many younger, single players might prefer living in Los Angles as opposed to St. Louis. But what about married players, with school-age children? Do they want to pull the kids in and out of school if the team’s here in 2015 and then leaves in another year or two?

Or if they’re from the Midwest, maybe they’d prefer to play here.

“I think with the dynamic that’s going, that particular player, that’d be a good discussion that they would have (with the family),” Snead said.

Then he added with a laugh, “And I betcha they’re not buying a house.”

Maybe they lease or rent instead, be it house, condo, or apartment.

Snead pointed out that many players have a permanent residence – or home base – that isn’t in the city where they earn their living playing football. For those with children, sometimes that means not living with the kids full-time during football season, basically the first semester of the school year.

Perhaps a more telling consequence of potential lame-duck status could be home-field advantage – or lack thereof – once the season starts. What if Rams fans, upset over Kroenke’s apparent intentions to move the team, stay away in droves next season at the Edward Jones Dome?

It might turn out to be a home-field disadvantage if only 30,000 fans are showing up each Sunday at the Dome.

“If you can compare 30,000 with going to Seattle, Seattle’s got a better home-field advantage,” Snead said. “So that’s definitely a possibility.”

If that’s the case in terms of a steep attendance decline, Rams fans could be outnumbered when Chicago and Pittsburgh come to town. Both traditionally have big followings on the road, and both are on the Rams’ 2016 home schedule.

“Whatever your (franchise) status is, if we’re going out and playing good football, I’ve got a gut feeling that as a fan, you’re gonna want to go and enjoy it,” Snead said. “I think from our football perspective we’ve got to take care of (winning), get that done, and then we’ll find out.”

Even in recent seasons, when the Rams have played to some empty seats at home, Snead says the fans who show up have been passionate in support of the team.

There just may not be as many of them next season.
 

Dagonet

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Should this thread not be in the sticky tho??
 

bluecoconuts

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An absolute awful deal for Stan? I wouldn't dare go that far. Most of the issues you are talking about relating to the St. Louis stadium proposal are likely negotiable. Minnesota's new stadium has a seating capacity of 65,400 which isn't much more than the new one here that's being proposed. I'm sure that won't be a sticking point. There will be far more parking spaces available around the new stadium as well, not just the 10k in front of the stadium for tailgating. This goes along with what I was saying prior that folks on each side of the fence are going to spin things a little out of natural bias as to where they want the team to land eventually, imo. One thing is for certain, the sooner this crap is over, the better.

If they negotiate then it wouldn't be the same deal.;)

I don't think the Rams staying in St Louis is bad for Stan, but the proposal they offered him was. It wasn't even close to what he needed and failed to meet him even half way on a lot of his supposed sticking points. St Louis needs to step their game up if they want to keep the Rams, that's essentially my point. The LA stadium is first, very possible so those trying to find reasons its not may find themselves very disappointed. Second, its very attractive, which gives him more incentive. What I'm worried about now is that its too late. Despite being in LA, I want the Rams to stay in St Louis, I'm moving there in a few years so my girlfriend can be closer to her family. So if they were to come to LA I'd be gone before they even moved into the new building anyway. I feel that realistically right now it doesn't look good without considerable work. I'm not sure if it can get done in time either.
 

DR RAM

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Should this thread not be in the sticky tho??
To a Rams fan his whole darn life, winning is more important than WHERE you win.

#justfuckingwinforalomgtimecomingforgadssakes,geez
 

Dagonet

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To a Rams fan his whole darn life, winning is more important than WHERE you win.

#justfuckingwinforalomgtimecomingforgadssakes,geez

From a Buckeye fan.. Just thought all relocation threads were supposed to be in the sticky thread above? :cool:
 

DR RAM

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By the way, sorry for your loss, and congrats to your buc college win. Well earned.
 

beej

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it's probably not the most prudent thing to do, but I wish they were giving him the stadium. The rams are here for the long haul if he owns the stadium. but that's a fan talking and not an economist.
 

rhinobean

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Some days I think that building a stadium with his own money qualifies as the right to move his team where he built that stadium! Other days, not so much! If he's moving, then just say so and do it tomorrow!
 

ChrisW

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I think the sticking point on the St. Louis deal is going to be Kroenke likely not wanting to put a couple of million dollars into a stadium he won't own.

And before anyone goes there, whether he "can" or not isn't the issue.

Yea, I don't know. It depends on how the revenue will be split up. If he makes more money with the new stadium and it increases the value of the franchise to somewhere to the middle of the pack, why not? Net gain, it's probably better than the amount he would gain moving them to L.A. The extra billion they would be worth would be offset by the new stadium minus any relocation fees, and the cost of moving itself.

I have a funny feeling that that (Kroenke leaving no matter what the League says) is the way it's going to happen.

What makes you think Jerry Jones of all people would be mistaken about what owners can or can't do?

That's not going to happen. IF he moves, it will be because he got enough votes for it to pass.
 

beej

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The more I think about this, If Stan does move the rams from St Louis, he might be getting out at exactly the wrong time. There is a lot going on in STL to rejuvenate the city. with the improvements to the Arch Grounds linking to the Courthouse, the 160 acre development of Paul McKee right across from the new stadium proposal. A lot is going to be changing in STL in the next 10 years. It could be really bad timing moving now.
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RamFan503

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Have you ever seen catfish with friggin laser beams in their eyes?

Once in college but that's a story for another thread.

You gotta have a min of like 25 thousand I think for a SB though. Think that's what he's alluding to. I plan on driving 8 hours by boat every game from the Ozarks, then parking at the docks.

Holy crap! If that's true, we can pretty much rule out Seattle ever hosting a Superbowl. I don't think there are 25,000 parking spots in the entire city. And boating to a game would be a kick in the ass. I do that for events in Portland sometimes. Not 8 hours but more fun and parking is usually easier.
 

RamFan503

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Yeah, there's definitely a strategical advantage to be had I suppose. The problem is Kroenke holds all the cards here, but it's all the cards for the worst team in the history of the league. One that fucked the city with the lease to begin with. Fans and city officials are already at their breaking point here. How much is there to be gained by keeping quiet anymore? Unless you're moving, then it doesn't really matter I guess.
I'm not even really defending the process but it does seem to be how it is done in many cases. As far as the team fucking the city, I think you should look squarely at your city leaders of the time and I'm not sure I'd give them the benefit of the doubt now.

Shaw had inside info that the city would offer such a deal and orchestrated a pretty fucked up deal for both cities IMO. But he knew that the city would have given that deal to any team that would move there, so he and Georgia weaseled their way in.

I've said it all along. In all this, it's the fans of St Louis I can empathize with. The problem with ALL of this IMO is that the ONE thing you can't say is that the fans deserved any of this crap. I think everyone needs to realize they have shown a great deal of support for a team that has given them very little to be high on.

But with all this said, I don't - at this point - blame Stan for doing what he is doing. I actually put most of the blame on the government and pseudo-government people that negotiated the original deal and now have taken on the negotiations to get a deal done. The ball has been in their court since the time the Rams first waved the top tier status requirement. They made a few modest improvements and otherwise did nothing to move toward resolution of the real issue at a time when they would have likely been dealing with a much softer negotiating team of Georgia and Shaw.

Then after losing in arbitration, in a pretty one sided decision I might add, they again sat on it. Then the governor waited until after the elections to form a task force and what they came up with is really pretty generic. I understand not wanting to put forth an actual plan until after the election but to not even be working on a solution or really doing anything for two years?

Stan has been playing in the world of big negotiations for a long time. I'm going to guess that if he saw any benefit in making statements or offering up proposals or pleading with the citizens, he would have done so. Does anyone really believe that Stan coming out and further saying he wants to stay in St Louis would really mean anything? I think he said it in 2010 without softening his position. I'm just not sure that the city paid much attention.

A little aside, does anyone think that maybe the city/state thought the same way many fans did up until very recently that there were too many obstacles and the deal in St Louis was too sweet to make it worth it for Stan to move and therefore thought they were holding all the cards? I'll tell yuh. It is about the only thing that makes sense to me to explain their lack of action and weak proposals.
 

RamFan503

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Yea, I don't know. It depends on how the revenue will be split up. If he makes more money with the new stadium and it increases the value of the franchise to somewhere to the middle of the pack, why not? Net gain, it's probably better than the amount he would gain moving them to L.A. The extra billion they would be worth would be offset by the new stadium minus any relocation fees, and the cost of moving itself.

Most of this maybe true but there are so many other things to factor in with owning commercial properties and certainly for a NFL stadium. For example, I wonder what the depreciation alone would be worth? I also don't know what other developments he is looking at with a stadium in LA. What are all the income streams with owning the stadium, the parking, other commercial developments that might go with it? What are the income streams from events aside from NFL football? All these things would be owned by Stan rather than the city. I think you'd have to know all this in order to come up with a comparison on ROI. I don't know the answers but I guarantee Stan does in both scenarios.
 
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