St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke has made it known that he’s willing to move his team back to Los Angeles even without the necessary votes from 24 owners to acquire league approval.
That coupled with plans to build a state-of-the-art stadium complex in Southern California has people on edge regarding a potential move.
It now appears that one of the most influential owners, Art Rooney II of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who also heads the league’s stadium committee, isn’t opposed to taking legal action should Kroenke’s next step not include approval from the NFL itself.
There are still cards to be played,” Rooney told veteran L.A. Times reporter Sam Farmer. “There’s still a process that has to work its way out, and we don’t know what the outcome’s going to be yet. That’s why we have league committees and approval processes.
I think we’re comfortable that we could stop a team legally from moving if it didn’t go through the process.
As Farmer pointed out, the league doesn’t have have a strong track record when it comes to going up against teams that are hellbent on relocating. We’ve seen this story before with both the then Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Raiders over 20 years ago.
Another high-profile owner, Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys, indicated earlier in the month that the Rams could relocate unilaterally. Considering Jones himself has been an advocate of getting a team back to Los Angeles, that isn’t considered much of a surprise. However, both Rooney and Jones are central figures when it comes to relocation in the NFL.
Rooney also indicated the need for a team that’s looking into relocation to Los Angeles to have a viable stadium plan. After all, Levi’s Stadium is the first football venue to be built in the state of California since 1960. The socioeconomic issues, taxpayer hurdles and a lot of political red tape make a project nearly impossible in the state.
No team is heading to Southern California in 2015, but there is a strong likelihood that at least one organization will take up residence there the following season. The San Diego Chargers and owner Dean Spanos have hinted at potential litigation to stop a Rams move, while the Oakland Raiders have shown a ton of interest in relocating from the Oakland Coliseum. Both San Diego and Oakland signed one-year lease extensions following the 2014 regular season. Meanwhile, the Rams remain in a constant state of flux with the Edward Jones Dome and officials in St. Louis.
Photo: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette