Could the Rams be on the way out of the Gateway City?
Professional sports is known for having franchises shift locations, names, divisions, players, coaches, owners, colors...practically everything under the sun. In just the past two decades, we have seen the Cleveland Browns become the Baltimore Ravens, the St. Louis Cardinals become the Phoenix Cardinals and then the Arizona Cardinals, the Oakland Raiders becoming the Los Angeles Raiders and then back to the Oakland Raiders, and the Houston Oilers becoming the Tennessee Titans, and this is just in the NFL.
The NBA has seen the Vancouver Grizzlies become the Memphis Grizzlies, the Charlotte Hornets become the New Orleans Hornets, and the Seattle Sonics becoming the Oklahoma City Thunder. The NHL has watched the Quebec Nordiques turn into the Colorado Avalanche, the Minnesota North Stars have transformed to the Dallas Stars, the Winnipeg Jets are now the Phoenix Coyotes, and the Hartford Whalers are now the Carolina Hurricanes. Even baseball hasn't been immune, as the Montreal Expos are the Washington Nationals, and the California Angels have had about 48 name changes, before finally settling, at least for the moment, as the Anaheim Angels.
Once again, in the tough economic times, there is speculation that another team may be shifting locales. This particular franchise realignment, should it go through, however, would directly impact where I currently reside.
Rumor and speculation says that the St. Louis Rams are up for sale, and that after a year of attempting to find a local buyer, Chip Rosenbloom and Julia Rodriguez, who are the brother and sister who were the children of former owner Georgia Frontiere, who passed away last year. The two own sixty percent of the franchise, which was recently valued at $929 million, though it is expected that the team would fetch a full 50 to 100 million dollars less than that given the current economic crunch. The other 40 percent of the Rams stake is owned by Stan Kroenke, who was reviled by Vince McMahon and WWE fans with the Pepsi Center fiasco last month. That puts the Rosenbloom chunk of the franchise would be worth roughly $560 million, meaning potentially they could expect about $500 million or so before taxes and the rest.
Neither of the siblings are interested in running or owning a NFL franchise. Where does that leave things? Well, for starters, they have retained Goldman Sachs to try and find a prospective buyer. Should a local buyer not be found, or one that wants to keep the team in St. Louis, then the city could see a NFL franchise leave town for the second time. There, of course, are always cities clamoring for an NFL franchise, though finding a viable option may be more difficult. In fact, in this economy, options are thinner than Kate Moss on afedra, which in case you are unaware, is ridiculous.
Whenever speculation of a relocation bubbles to the surface, the first destination that comes to the minds of people is Los Angeles. The city has not had a team since the Raiders moved back to Oakland, though the Rams came from Los Angeles when they moved to St. Louis back in 1995. There is talk that the Blues owner, Dave Checketts, may attempt to be the spearhead of a group to buy the team and keep it in St. Louis. He believes that he and his group have the assets to get a deal done.
The Rams deal with the Edward Jones Dome is in effect until 2014, and it doesn't seem as if people in the St. Louis area are jumping through hoops to buy the team. It has already been stated that the founder of Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Jack Taylor, is not interested in buying the club, and no one from the Busch empire, well known to the point of being revered here, has stepped forward either. City officials are ssying that a new or refurbished stadium would cost in the range of 800 million to one billion dollars. It is hard to fathom that there is enough of a tax base to generate that kind of money, or that the city officials would pass a bond bill to do so.
The coming months will determine a lot of the climate for professional football in St. Louis, though there is one given. The market will be set by what happens here, and the fate of the Gateway City will as well. Hopefully, for the city, the Rams will stay in town.
The NBA has seen the Vancouver Grizzlies become the Memphis Grizzlies, the Charlotte Hornets become the New Orleans Hornets, and the Seattle Sonics becoming the Oklahoma City Thunder. The NHL has watched the Quebec Nordiques turn into the Colorado Avalanche, the Minnesota North Stars have transformed to the Dallas Stars, the Winnipeg Jets are now the Phoenix Coyotes, and the Hartford Whalers are now the Carolina Hurricanes. Even baseball hasn't been immune, as the Montreal Expos are the Washington Nationals, and the California Angels have had about 48 name changes, before finally settling, at least for the moment, as the Anaheim Angels.
Once again, in the tough economic times, there is speculation that another team may be shifting locales. This particular franchise realignment, should it go through, however, would directly impact where I currently reside.
Rumor and speculation says that the St. Louis Rams are up for sale, and that after a year of attempting to find a local buyer, Chip Rosenbloom and Julia Rodriguez, who are the brother and sister who were the children of former owner Georgia Frontiere, who passed away last year. The two own sixty percent of the franchise, which was recently valued at $929 million, though it is expected that the team would fetch a full 50 to 100 million dollars less than that given the current economic crunch. The other 40 percent of the Rams stake is owned by Stan Kroenke, who was reviled by Vince McMahon and WWE fans with the Pepsi Center fiasco last month. That puts the Rosenbloom chunk of the franchise would be worth roughly $560 million, meaning potentially they could expect about $500 million or so before taxes and the rest.
Neither of the siblings are interested in running or owning a NFL franchise. Where does that leave things? Well, for starters, they have retained Goldman Sachs to try and find a prospective buyer. Should a local buyer not be found, or one that wants to keep the team in St. Louis, then the city could see a NFL franchise leave town for the second time. There, of course, are always cities clamoring for an NFL franchise, though finding a viable option may be more difficult. In fact, in this economy, options are thinner than Kate Moss on afedra, which in case you are unaware, is ridiculous.
Whenever speculation of a relocation bubbles to the surface, the first destination that comes to the minds of people is Los Angeles. The city has not had a team since the Raiders moved back to Oakland, though the Rams came from Los Angeles when they moved to St. Louis back in 1995. There is talk that the Blues owner, Dave Checketts, may attempt to be the spearhead of a group to buy the team and keep it in St. Louis. He believes that he and his group have the assets to get a deal done.
The Rams deal with the Edward Jones Dome is in effect until 2014, and it doesn't seem as if people in the St. Louis area are jumping through hoops to buy the team. It has already been stated that the founder of Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Jack Taylor, is not interested in buying the club, and no one from the Busch empire, well known to the point of being revered here, has stepped forward either. City officials are ssying that a new or refurbished stadium would cost in the range of 800 million to one billion dollars. It is hard to fathom that there is enough of a tax base to generate that kind of money, or that the city officials would pass a bond bill to do so.
The coming months will determine a lot of the climate for professional football in St. Louis, though there is one given. The market will be set by what happens here, and the fate of the Gateway City will as well. Hopefully, for the city, the Rams will stay in town.
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