"The Wow Factor" - Real Story behind NFL to LA/Jerry Jones Merged Thread

[tonyl711]

Pretty dismissive here Tony.

He actually tried to get 2 OTHER teams to the Lou before the Rams. Sorry but do everything he could does not mean bend over and take it. You can say that the St Louis offer was good and he should have taken it - especially in light of what he said in 2010. But the problem is that it was far shy of what was promised and far shy of what he could do on his own.

If we are going to talk about spin, we should not ignore the spin that the lease didn't matter or that having Stan spend an additional $700 million to help build a stadium he wouldn't own doesn't matter.

I don't give anyone a pass in this. It was a business decision by Stan, the NFL, the CVC/RSA, the City of St Louis, and the Task Force. But asking Stan to pay $700 million he wasn't obligated to spend and have zero equity to show for it is not really all that shocking that he would turn it down - especially when he knew he had alternatives.


I swore I would never cook in a restaurant again. Now I own one. I swore I would only brew beer for fun and friends. Now I own a brewery. I signed a 2 year contract to work for someone and they jerked me around and wanted me to come into the office on Sundays for no reason. I didn't stay.

You really can't take someone saying they would do what they could to stay and think that he is obligated to fulfill that no matter what. That never holds water in anything. I'm guessing you have said you were going to do something - intending full well to do it - and then situations made it either untenable to do so or would have made your situation worse or another scenario improved your situation more - so you didn't do it.

I get being pissed at the man. But saying others are merely spinning the story if they don't see it that way isn't accurate.

did any of those decisions you made involve lying to customers? did you make promises that affected anyone but you? to change your mind on a personal matter is one thing, to lie to a city is another, then to completly trash that city in order to achieve your lie is disgusting, do you honestly think he didnt know he was going to try to move when he made those statements?

 

[LesBaker]

Not sure what you call the following.

And where do you get the idea that LA fans lose interest when their teams aren't winning? Bernie? Is there anything you can show that actually demonstrates that? It is a myth. I have watched virtually every pro team in LA and the turn out has been great and the fans raucous aside from the Rams last few years in the Big A.

Have you ever actually been to a game in LA? The fact is that fans love their teams and love to have fun going to games. LA is no different in that respect than any other fan base. And now the NFL is WAY more popular than it was in the early 90's.

Pretty much EVERY fan base loses interest when a team isn't winning in any pro sport. And there are exceptions like Green Bay and Cleveland with the Browns and Packers. But in the NBA, NHL, MLB and NFL if you win you fill the seats, if you are not winning you are not filling the seats.

LA is not an exception just because it's a really big market. Neither is New york, Chicago, Miami or any of the other big markets.

If a team produces bad records over and over fans stop showing up. Period.

It has NOTHING to do with the city and everything to do with the economics of modern sports.

At current prices to see a pro game would you drop that kind of coin to watch your team get bounced out of their own stadium? Lots of fans say "no thanks" and decide to spend the money and time on something else.

For a few hundred bucks you can do a lot of things with the kids, watching a crappy team lose a game won't make the list. Who wants to spend a bunch of $$$ and have disappointed unhappy kids afterwards?

LA or KC or Pittsburgh or Philly it doesn't matter.

 

[nighttrain]

Please don't do this. Even though I didn't really care where the Rams ended up playing their games, this is just nonsense baiting of the LA fans. And I'm guessing you only know the LA fan base based on what you have been told by your local media. I'm guessing that because it is dead wrong.

LA actually supports their teams very well and pretty much always has. The Dodgers haven't exactly been playoff juggernauts yet they perennially lead the league in attendance. Up until the last 4 or 5 years (when Georgia and Shaw intentionally destroyed the team and constantly bad mouthed the city, the fans, etc in their quest to have the next city buy her allegiance), the LA Rams were ALWAYS in the top half of attendance in the entire league and had several top five and even some seasons at the very top. They still own the NFL record for attendance to a single NFL game. The Kings have almost always had great attendance. Same with the LA soccer teams, the NBA teams (the Clippers are only recently really an NBA quality team) The Angels have done very well. The Raiduhs are about the only team to not grab hold and it was mainly because they were still viewed as the Oakland Raiduhs and Davis made veiled threats of moving back to Oakland from day one.

Bottom line is that we don't appreciate anyone calling out either fan base. I get that many don't like the glee with which the LA fans talk about the Rams returning but you are just going to have to expect that and accept it. I'd be more irritated if they didn't care. Most have been respectful while talking about the return to LA and any time they have tried to lay it on the St Louis fans, we have been pretty quick to respond. This site is a Rams fan site without a geographic bias except that they now are the LA Rams just as they were the St Louis Rams from the onset of this board back in 2010.

well stated Brew-master
train

 

[RamBill]

ESPN.com senior writer Don Van Natta discusses the most interesting part of the Rams’ move to L.A., the team’s value, Jerry Jones’ power and Stan Kroenke’s treatment of St. Louis.

Listen to Va Natta Talk Rams Relocation

 

[RamFan503]

do you honestly think he didnt know he was going to try to move when he made those statements?

Honestly? Yes. Do I know that to be the case? No. I can't follow the logic that he would try to three different times to bring a team to St Louis with the plan to move them to LA. He has obviously had LA in his plans for a while now. 2010? I don't think so. 2012? Seems pretty likely.

 

[RamBill]

KTLA’s “Rams Jam” series continues. They circle back with the LA Rams VP of Ticketing and Premium Seating Jake Bye to talk about the organization’s vision for the stadium in Inglewood. The stadium will be a destination spot all year long, not just on game days. The technology will be key, including a Fan App that will have real time traffic reports and allow people to order food right at their seats, plus more.

Watch Rams Stadium Story

 

[LesBaker]

Honestly? Yes. Do I know that to be the case? No. I can't follow the logic that he would try to three different times to bring a team to St Louis with the plan to move them to LA. He has obviously had LA in his plans for a while now. 2010? I don't think so. 2012? Seems pretty likely.

I think he was planning this for years, how many well yes who knows, but he has been duping people and lying to them, and often through others, for a long, long time.

If we use some deductive reasoning I think it's fair to think this:

It's now documented (was a rumor before but not any more) that Kroenke asked a lot of questions about moving when he interviewed Fisher, and we can reasonably speculate one of those was "how did Bud keep it quiet". If I recall that interview was in early 2012.

I find it unlikely that he just decided after that 2011 season that he wanted to move the team.

In hindsight we can as of now set the line at 2012 because we know it was AT LEAST since then, but it was very likely the moment he greenmailed Khan then decided he was going to own the entire team.

I also wonder if Chip and Lucia knew or had dialogue with him about moving the team back to LA and maybe that influenced Kroenke to decide to finally use the option to match an outside off to them, not beat it just match it.

Lots to think about, but I would bet that he planned this from the start and in hindsight it's really harder to make a case that he didn't versus he did.

 

[BonifayRam]

Chargers to Focus Efforts Downtown
Tuesday, February 23, 2016 2:55 PM PST

We have spent the last month evaluating the leading San Diego stadium sites and financing proposals. During that time, led by Chargers Special Advisor Fred Maas, we have engaged in regular discussions with Mayor Faulconer, Supervisor Roberts, City Attorney Goldsmith, and City and County negotiators. And we have carefully evaluated the arguments made by the Mayor and others regarding the merits of the Mission Valley site. We agree that, in many respects, the arguments for Mission Valley are compelling.

At the same time, we have considered the potential benefits to both the greater San Diego region and the Chargers of a multi-use stadium/convention center facility downtown. The multi-use facility, when combined with Petco Park, the existing Convention Center, the Gaslamp Quarter, and a revitalized East Village, would create an unparalleled entertainment and sports district that will host Super Bowls and will ideally be a permanent home for Comic-Con and a Comic-Con museum. All of our research demonstrates that voters are more likely to approve a multi-use facility that would generate economic activity on hundreds of days per year, including by attracting major sporting and convention events that San Diego cannot now host. The downtown multi-use facility would also free up the existing Mission Valley site for potential use by educational institutions such as San Diego State and UCSD, as well as for a large riverfront park.

For these reasons, the Chargers will begin collaborating immediately with the existing diverse citizens’ coalition led by Donna Frye and JMI Realty that has already been formed in favor of a downtown convention center expansion and educational and recreational uses in Mission Valley. Our goal is to win voter approval in November 2016 for a downtown multi-use stadium/convention center facility and to facilitate the best possible community uses for the existing Mission Valley site. We will deliver regular reports to our fans and to the community about the progress we are making.

We believe that a downtown multi-use facility will attract broad support from throughout our entire community. And we hope that, as our downtown proposal is developed and as the campaign for passage begins, those who have supported the Mission Valley site will keep an open mind and consider supporting what we believe is the best way to secure a permanent home for the Chargers in San Diego.

We are very grateful for all of the hard work that Mayor Faulconer, Supervisor Roberts and City Attorney Goldsmith have done on behalf of the City and County over the past few weeks and look forward to maintaining a dialogue as our plans move forward. Read

 

[OldSchool]

Spanos pushing for downtown very well could spell the end of the Chargers in San Diego.

 

[MrMotes]

Stan made his offer on the Dodgers in late 2011 or early 2012 so that's certainly when he was acting on his plan to move the Rams to L.A. Doesn't mean he knew he would get there but he was clearly thinking about it...

 

[Akrasian]

Stan made his offer on the Dodgers in late 2011 or early 2012 so that's certainly when he was acting on his plan to move the Rams to L.A. Doesn't mean he knew he would get there but he was clearly thinking about it...

Stan is a serial collector of sports teams. The Dodgers are the most valuable MLB franchise to go on the market for years. Even if Kroenke didn't own the Rams he would have been bidding on the Dodgers.

 

[BuiltRamTough]

Stan is a serial collector of sports teams. The Dodgers are the most valuable MLB franchise to go on the market for years. Even if Kroenke didn't own the Rams he would have been bidding on the Dodgers.

The only thing missing from Stans sports collection is a baseball team.

I wonder if he has trouble sleeping at night?

 

[MrMotes]

Stan is a serial collector of sports teams. The Dodgers are the most valuable MLB franchise to go on the market for years. Even if Kroenke didn't own the Rams he would have been bidding on the Dodgers.

True but the offer also indicated the Rams interest in moving to L.A., pretty sure Demoff said as much in a recent interview...

 

[Merlin]

Spanos pushing for downtown very well could spell the end of the Chargers in San Diego.

Maybe. But I have to admit the San Diego downtown is my favorite of all the US cities, it is extremely well designed and the way PETCO opens into the Gaslamp Quarter is absolutely beautiful. If they could somehow fit a football and convention center down there it would be amazing, just not sure where they would put it.

What I really don't want to see is the Raiders be the other team in LA though. I hate that team and their idiot, gang banging fans, and sadly they're going to pounce on LA as soon as the Chargers get a deal done. So yeah, I guess I gotta root against Spanos getting a deal done down there eh?

 

[Roman Snow]

Jerry Richardson the bully but it's perfectly OK for Jurrah to call out Michael Bidwill.

The difference is Bidwell was being a hypocrite and had some monetary gain from the Rams staying in the city his father left...for money. Jerruh rightly called him on it.

 

[LesBaker]

Maybe. But I have to admit the San Diego downtown is my favorite of all the US cities, it is extremely well designed and the way PETCO opens into the Gaslamp Quarter is absolutely beautiful. If they could somehow fit a football and convention center down there it would be amazing, just not sure where they would put it.

What I really don't want to see is the Raiders be the other team in LA though. I hate that team and their idiot, gang banging fans, and sadly they're going to pounce on LA as soon as the Chargers get a deal done. So yeah, I guess I gotta root against Spanos getting a deal done down there eh?

You can count on Kroenke weaseling out of any deal with the Raiders somehow, with a helping hand from the NFL.

That is as good as etched in stone IMO.

 

[LesBaker]

The difference is Bidwell was being a hypocrite and had some monetary gain from the Rams staying in the city his father left...for money. Jerruh rightly called him on it.

That's actually not true. He was 24 years old and in college. And for all you know he may have told or even begged his father not to move the team.

Jerruh was wrong, and I call bullshit on this entire thing about this scenario. It's just not relevant and Bidwell's point was in fact accurate.

Sorry......but that's true.

 

[MrMotes]

That's actually not true. He was 24 years old and in college. And for all you know he may have told or even begged his father not to move the team.

Jerruh was wrong, and I call bullcrap on this entire thing about this scenario. It's just not relevant and Bidwell's point was in fact accurate.

Sorry......but that's true.

I think you're BS detector may be on the fritz.

Jones was dead on and everyone in the room knew it. His rebuke carried the day..

The owners know which Bidwell moved the team for monetary gain, They also know the younger Bidwell is now enjoying those benefits in Arizona. But hey, if he thinks his Cardinals were wrong for leaving St. Louis, he can move them back...

 

[CGI_Ram]

 

[LesBaker]

Maybe if needs to be killed then.