The Rams have been in St. Louis for 21 years. However, before they were in ‘Show Me’ state they spent their first 49 years of existence in Los Angeles. Now, thanks to a vote of the owners, the team will be moving back to its original home.
The announcement was a stunning turn of events Tuesday after the NFL’s relocation committee recommended both the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers make the move to LA with their bid for a shared stadium in Carson.
Even against the committee’s recommendation, the owners’ vote was 30-2 to move the Rams back to LA. Not the Chargers or the Raiders.
The Chargers, who spent just their first year of existence in LA decades ago, will have the option to make the move with the Rams and share a stadium with them in Inglewood.
The Rams will temporarily play in USC’s Memorial Coliseum until their $1.86 billion stadium is finished around 2019.
For the Chargers, the vote means that the team still has the option to try and work things out with the city of San Diego. The NFL has given the Chargers until January 2017 to negotiate a partnership with the Rams in Inglewood. If the Chargers haven’t made a relocation decision by Jan. 16, 2017, then the Raiders will have the option to join the Rams in L.A.
The Chargers were also given a second date of March 23, 2016. The team has to decide by then if they want to move to L.A. for the 2016 season. If they decide to stay in San Diego for 2016, then the January 2017 deadline takes over.
After the vote was done, NFL commissioner apologized to every city that will be losing a team.
“Stabililty is something that we take a lot of pride in,” Goodell said. “It’s bittersweet, too, because we were unable to get the facilities that we’d hoped for in their markets. We weren’t able to get it done for our fans in St. Louis and San Diego and Oakland.”
It’s the second time St. Louis has lost an NFL franchise, as the Arizona Cardinals called the city home for nearly three decades before moving to Phoenix.
The 1951 Rams were Los Angeles’ first pro sports champions. The Rams won a Super Bowl in St. Louis in 1999.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of Crave Sports.
Photo: Getty
