Rams officially moving to Los Angeles

[R.J]

Chargers have the option to join Inglewood project. Mark Davis pulled the Raiders out of the process and look to be staying in Oakland at least for the time being, NFL said to assist them in new stadium options.

[Wobbler]

So it finally happened. Somehow I don't think "Give us a sweet tax deal and build an arena or I'm moving the team to St. Louis" is going to be as effective for owners as the old threat was.

[R.J]

So it finally happened. Somehow I don't think "Give us a sweet tax deal and build an arena or I'm moving the team to St. Louis" is going to be as effective for owners as the old threat was.
I guess at least one of Toronto, London, San Antonio and Mexico City will become the new Los Angeles.

[ArgoRavi]

I guess at least one of Toronto, London, San Antonio and Mexico City will become the new Los Angeles.

I can't see it being Toronto as the costs are prohibitive, especially with the low dollar, and there is little appetite for using public funds to build an enormous stadium for a foreign league.

[Tau Ceti]

CFL in St. Louis. Let's get on this.

[Mightygoose]

Depending on when/if the Chargers take the option to join Stan. LA II becomes the new LA. Apparently, the Chargers have until the March meetings (20-23) to decide then it's year to year.

[R.J]

I can't see it being Toronto as the costs are prohibitive, especially with the low dollar, and there is little appetite for using public funds to build an enormous stadium for a foreign league.
Not what I meant, if you read the post I quoted, the context for what I wrote is there. NFL team's will use one of Toronto, London, Mexico City and San Antonio (most likely just San Antonio and Toronto), the same way they used Los Angeles, as a threat in order to secure more taxpayer money from their Cities, Counties and States for new play pens.

[gilthethrill]

CFL in St. Louis. Let's get on this.

I suggest the team be named either the Cardinals or the Rams.

[AngeloV]

If this were to happen in the CFL, people would call the league bush.

[R.J]

If this were to happen in the CFL, people would call the league bush.
The CFL is on some ridiculous pedestal for some reason, if they do something good it's 'well it's just the CFL" and when they do something that people don't like "that's bush league". The League can never win. It's ridiculous to hear some of the excuses as to why people don't go to games and yet those excuses aren't there when it comes to the Jays winning, Raptors, Winnipeg Jets, etc. I've never understood it.

[1argoholic]

Give it a few years and the LA based team will move again.

[R.J]

Give it a few years and the LA based team will move again.
i doubt it, Kroenke is spending a butt load of money on that stadium district.

[paulwoods13]

Not what I meant, if you read the post I quoted, the context for what I wrote is there. NFL team's will use one of Toronto, London, Mexico City and San Antonio (most likely just San Antonio and Toronto), the same way they used Los Angeles, as a threat in order to secure more taxpayer money from their Cities, Counties and States for new play pens.

I think if an owner (like Jacksonville's) were to hint that he'd move the team to Toronto, it wouldn't take too much digging (i.e. none) for an enterprising reporter there to discover that SkyDome is hopeless as an NFL venue and a 70-cent dollar and national market only as large as California make this an economic non-starter.

[argolio]

Interesting that St. Louis met every single condition set by the NFL and Goddell, and still got hosed. Just shows that the NFL and Kroenke have been orchestrating this deal for years. St. Louis never had a chance.

[QBall]

And the St. Louis fans are suing. Only in 'murica!

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/irate-fans-sue-rams-for-leaving-town/article_3e744a5e-6a84-5b6f-9bf4-103ec4f3aa35.html

Irate fans sue Rams for leaving town

[R.J]

Chargers have filed to trademark the names Los Angeles Chargers and LA Chargers.

["Issues"Mcgee]

The CFL is on some ridiculous pedestal for some reason, if they do something good it's 'well it's just the CFL" and when they do something that people don't like "that's bush league". The League can never win. It's ridiculous to hear some of the excuses as to why people don't go to games and yet those excuses aren't there when it comes to the Jays winning, Raptors, Winnipeg Jets, etc. I've never understood it.

I can completely relate to this. It's mind-boggling what people will give flack to the CFL for. I had an NFL fan from Toronto tell me he hates the CFL because some games are played in the snow and the Eskimos is a racist name for a team...

I don't get this push to move to LA. Didn't an NFL team in LA prove to be a failure in the past? How will LAers find the time between watching basketball, getting stoned and talking about how amazing California is to support two, let alone one, NFL team?

[Will]

I can completely relate to this. It's mind-boggling what people will give flack to the CFL for. I had an NFL fan from Toronto tell me he hates the CFL because some games are played in the snow and the Eskimos is a racist name for a team...

I've heard some ridiculous reasons why people dislike the CFL, but the above reasons might take the cake. Did you explain to him the weather in Green Bay or Buffalo in December and January or the fact that the Washington Redskins have been under pressure for years because of their name?

I don't think the Rams moved from Los Angeles in the 90's because they were unpopular, rather they moved for very much the same reasons that they are moving back to Los Angeles and that is stadium politics.

[AngeloV]

I don't think the Rams moved from Los Angeles in the 90's because they were unpopular, rather they moved for very much the same reasons that they are moving back to Los Angeles and that is stadium politics.

And to me that is sickening.

Can't stand seeing these owners making money hand over fist, holding cities hostage for a new stadium so that they can even make more money. In the NHL, I can understand it, because if the team is having issues selling out, it's easy to lose a lot of money. But in the NFL, teams make money before they even sell 1 ticket. If I was a mayor being pressured by a greedy owner, I would just let him take his team and leave.

[Will]

And to me that is sickening.

Can't stand seeing these owners making money hand over fist, holding cities hostage for a new stadium so that they can even make more money. In the NHL, I can understand it, because if the team is having issues selling out, it's easy to lose a lot of money. But in the NFL, teams make money before they even sell 1 ticket. If I was a mayor being pressured by a greedy owner, I would just let him take his team and leave.

It is quite ironic.

I am unsure I have much sympathy for certain NHL teams. For example, the Ottawa Senators who built their arena in the middle of nowhere in the mid-1990's. Now we here that they might want to move into Lebreton Flats (where an arena was originally proposed). I'd have less sympathy for a team playing in a 20-year arena versus one who is playing in an older one.

[ArgoRavi]

Not what I meant, if you read the post I quoted, the context for what I wrote is there. NFL team's will use one of Toronto, London, Mexico City and San Antonio (most likely just San Antonio and Toronto), the same way they used Los Angeles, as a threat in order to secure more taxpayer money from their Cities, Counties and States for new play pens.

My point is that Toronto is hardly a city to use for any reasonable threat when there is 0.0% chance of the city being able to host an NFL franchise. If an owner in, say, Jacksonville threatens to move his team to Toronto, I doubt that the city of Jacksonville would take that threat seriously. If, on the other hand, they threaten to move to San Antonio, it is time to become much more concerned.

EDIT: I just read Paul's post after making this one which pretty much said the same thing. LOL! Great minds think alike! ;)

[R.J]

My point is that Toronto is hardly a city to use for any reasonable threat when there is 0.0% chance of the city being able to host an NFL franchise. If an owner in, say, Jacksonville threatens to move his team to Toronto, I doubt that the city of Jacksonville would take that threat seriously. If, on the other hand, they threaten to move to San Antonio, it is time to become much more concerned.

EDIT: I just read Paul's post after making this one which pretty much said the same thing. LOL! Great minds think alike! ;)
Toronto will always be in the conversation, when the dollar was low in the mid to late 90's and early 2000's, the NFL coming to Toronto was still being talked about. I want to be clear I don't think the threat is real or that I believe the NFL is coming any time soon, quite the contrary actually, as I believe San Antonio, Mexico City, London and now St. Louis are all ahead of Toronto, but Toronto is still in the conversation and if nothing else will be used in some capacity.

[ArgoZ]

Interesting that St. Louis met every single condition set by the NFL and Goddell, and still got hosed. Just shows that the NFL and Kroenke have been orchestrating this deal for years. St. Louis never had a chance.

This point also helps strengthen the theory that if the NFL wanted Toronto, they would be here already.

[jerrym]

While the billion dollar plus stadium purportedly does not involve upfront tax money and sounds like a good deal for taxpayers on the surface, as the city only pays money to the developers, I've remained skeptical in view of the history of so-called great deals going all the way back to Mayor Drapeau's famous "The Montreal Olympics can no more have a deficit, than a man can have a baby,"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/taxpayers-nfl-stadiums_us_55f08313e4b002d5c077b8ac

Bettman has just been in Calgary pushing for taxpayers to build a new stadium. This will never end until people simply say no.

The NFL itself has made out like bandits, soaking the taxpayer for billions. I hope this is not the case once again.

Lets end billionaire welfare.


When the NFL season kicks off Thursday night in New England, football fans will file into a stadium built with $72 million in taxpayer money. Compared to fans in other NFL cities, residents of Foxboro, Massachusetts, can thank their team for giving them a bargain.
Taxpayers have spent nearly $3 billion on the 16 stadiums that will host NFL games during the season's opening weekend, according to figures in a new analysis (http://protectingtaxpayers.org/index.php?blog&action=view&post_id=857#sthash.tqcghoDD.dpbs) from the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, a Washington, D.C-based conservative nonprofit group.
All told, 29 of the NFL's 31 stadiums have received public funds for construction or renovation. In the last two decades, the analysis found, taxpayers across the country have spent nearly $7 billion on stadiums for a league that surpassed $10 billion in revenue last season.
"Unfortunately, beneath all of the glitz and glamour, these venues are nothing more than monuments to corporate welfare and taxpayer handouts," David Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, said in a press release. "These stadiums have been built on the backs of taxpayers who had no or little say in the matter and in many cases have benefitted little or not at all.”



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/taxpayers-nfl-stadiums_us_55f08313e4b002d5c077b8ac

[AngeloV]

Bettman has just been in Calgary pushing for taxpayers to build a new stadium. This will never end until people simply say no.



I think that fool needs to stop worrying about Calgary, and start worrying about markets that don't sell tickets. Listening to TSN radio this morning, the Hurricanes PBP guy was on and mentioned that attendance is down from 16k to 11k with the drop happening since they last made the playoffs in '09.

[R.J]

I think that fool needs to stop worrying about Calgary, and start worrying about markets that don't sell tickets. Listening to TSN radio this morning, the Hurricanes PBP guy was on and mentioned that attendance is down from 16k to 11k with the drop happening since they last made the playoffs in '09.
I agree, his focus should be more on relocation and contraction than about Calgary's potential new digs and expansion.

[Will]

Has the Saddledome been renovated since it opened? I ask this because it is true that it is one of the older buildings in the league, but he obviously is selectively not targeting Madison Square Garden which did undergo extensive renovations a few years ago.

[AngeloV]

Has the Saddledome been renovated since it opened? I ask this because it is true that it is one of the older buildings in the league, but he obviously is selectively not targeting Madison Square Garden which did undergo extensive renovations a few years ago.

That's a good question, not really sure.

To me, this shows that he does realize that he really needs the Canadian markets in order to prop up the US markets that he is so proud to have. He needs the extra hockey related revenue, otherwise the escrow the players go into will go up, and we can all get ready for some more labour unrest when this CBA expires.



I agree, his focus should be more on relocation and contraction than about Calgary's potential new digs and expansion.

Yes, contraction would be the way to go, but he doesn't want it on his watch. If you get rid of the 6 to 8 markets that are being propped up, I don't believe that the NBC or SN TV deal would be affected, and there would be a higher share of that going to the remaining teams. The only problem would be the loss of 120-160 NHL jobs. The PA would not support this.

[ArgoRavi]

Has the Saddledome been renovated since it opened? I ask this because it is true that it is one of the older buildings in the league, but he obviously is selectively not targeting Madison Square Garden which did undergo extensive renovations a few years ago.

I believe that the Saddledome was renovated at some point in the last 15 years, Will.

[AngeloV]

I believe that the Saddledome was renovated at some point in the last 15 years, Will.

Saddledome was renovated in 1995, ad again in 2013, but the latter was due to the bad flooding in Southern Alberta that summer.

[R.J]

Yes, contraction would be the way to go, but he doesn't want it on his watch. If you get rid of the 6 to 8 markets that are being propped up, I don't believe that the NBC or SN TV deal would be affected, and there would be a higher share of that going to the remaining teams. The only problem would be the loss of 120-160 NHL jobs. The PA would not support this.
I agree contraction is the way to go, 6 to 8 is a bit much IMO, 4 is the way I'd go. One team I would not want to see go is Nashville, they have a good fan base over there, the problem is the corporate support or lack there or. Florida, Carolina, Arizona and Brooklyn need to go though or at least relocate IMO.

[AngeloV]

I agree contraction is the way to go, 6 to 8 is a bit much IMO, 4 is the way I'd go. One team I would not want to see go is Nashville, they have a good fan base over there, the problem is the corporate support or lack there or. Florida, Carolina, Arizona and Brooklyn need to go though or at least relocate IMO.

Brooklyn needs to go back to Long Island, and New Jersey should be the one to go IMO...New Arena, and still not drawing flies.

[R.J]

It is quite ironic.

I am unsure I have much sympathy for certain NHL teams. For example, the Ottawa Senators who built their arena in the middle of nowhere in the mid-1990's. Now we here that they might want to move into Lebreton Flats (where an arena was originally proposed). I'd have less sympathy for a team playing in a 20-year arena versus one who is playing in an older one.
The Sens originally did want to build at the Lebreton Flats, the NCC nixed any hope of that at the time. The City then told them if you want to come here, you have to build the arena on your own, of which they did (In Kanata) and even had to take a Provincial loan guarantee to build the interchange to the Arena. If the Senators had built their facility at the Lebreton Flats in the first place, they would be generating more money. The Lebreton Flats were also looked at by the City for a new arena/stadium district, prior to the deal with OSEG for Lansdowne.


Brooklyn needs to go back to Long Island, and New Jersey should be the one to go IMO...New Arena, and still not drawing flies.
I respectfully disagree, the Islanders are only in their second year with their new arena and selling less than 13,500. I'd move or contract the Islanders, the Devils can stay, especially with the new Ownership they have (Harris and Blitzer).

[R.J]

Las Vegas Raiders ? I doubt it.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14669152/oakland-raiders-owner-mark-davis-meet-las-vegas-officials-regarding-potential-stadium-sites

[Will]

Las Vegas Raiders ? I doubt it.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14669152/oakland-raiders-owner-mark-davis-meet-las-vegas-officials-regarding-potential-stadium-sites

The Raiders should stay in the Bay Area, IMO!

[AngeloV]

The Raiders should stay in the Bay Area, IMO!

Every NFL team should stay exactly where they are. None of them are losing money, but the greed of these owners in just ridiculous.

[Will]

I also saw a few rumors about the Raiders moving to San Diego once the Chargers moved to Los Angeles. That is a joke as it is the equivalent of the Argos moving to Ottawa or Hamilton or something like that.

[R.J]

Holy crap!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Welcome back to LA, fans. Now park here... <a href="https://t.co/CQAJagATQf">pic.twitter.com/CQAJagATQf</a></p>&mdash; Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/764567306982653952">August 13, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[PullTogether73]

Holy crap!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Welcome back to LA, fans. Now park here... <a href="https://t.co/CQAJagATQf">pic.twitter.com/CQAJagATQf</a></p>&mdash; Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/764567306982653952">August 13, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

LOL!
Yah, I heard about that on the radio this morning.
Apparently there was one lot charging $100.

[R.J]

LOL!
Yah, I heard about that on the radio this morning.
Apparently there was one lot charging $100.
That's nuts.

[PullTogether73]

That's nuts.

Yup.
About as nuts as 89,000 people showing up for a pre-season game.
SMH.

[R.J]

Yup.
About as nuts as 89,000 people showing up for a pre-season game.
SMH.
Well it was the return of the LA Rams, so I get it.