Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has pulled St. Louis County out of any talks about publicly financing a new Rams stadium in the city.
Now that St. Louis taxpayers will not be asked to help foot the bill for a new stadium, Rams owner Stan Kroenke’s plans to move to Southern California just got a tad bit easier.
We are not going to see widespread league-wide opposition to a relocation to Los Angeles, especially with the potential of public funding being thrown out the window by the top politician in Missouri.
Kroenke’s plan has been gaining steam since the Inglewood City Council voted to support a stadium plan at the Hollywood Park location earlier this year. Those in support of a team moving to Los Angeles, including Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, also seemingly threw their weight behind relocation at the annual owners meetings in Arizona last week.
And while some of the most powerful owners in the league have made it clear that they plan to support local markets retaining teams, the caveat that comes with said support is rather big (via St. Louis Post-Dispatch).
During the NFL’s annual owners meeting last week in Phoenix, several key owners insisted they would protect local markets from losing teams — if, that is, those markets can present their own stadium proposals with concrete financing plans.
In short, without Kroenke doling out the necessary funds to build a stadium in St. Louis, there isn’t a viable stadium plan in that city. At this point, there is absolutely no indication that Kroenke would even entertain a plan to build a stadium in St. Louis without public financing.
What does this all mean?
Even without the commitment of a franchise to move to Los Angeles, construction of a new stadium in Inglewood is slated to start later this year. That would put it on pace to be able to host a NFL team in time for the 2017 season. Until then, any team deciding to relocate to Southern California would have to play at temporary digs for the 2016 campaign.
In addition to the Rams, the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders are looking into the viability of building a two-team stadium in Southern California. While that plan is still in its infancy, the Rams appear to be inching closer to relocation.
Gov. Nixon’s unwillingness to finance a stadium in St. Louis only makes the potential of L.A. hosting a NFL team in the not-so-distant future that much stronger.
This development can also put to rest absurd rumors that the Raiders may uproot to Missouri. Without public financing, owner Mark Davis isn’t even going to entertain that possibility. And with the Raiders still at odds with local leaders in Oakland, the expectation here could be that they will look to latch on with the Rams plan in Inglewood, creating a two-team stadium at the Hollywood Park location.
Photo: USA Today Sports