Rams fans react to Los Angeles relocation

“I have a responsibility also to take care of the organization and a responsibility to my other 31 partners to have a first-class facility”. “It is a hard process and it is bittersweet”.

Kroenke added: “We understand the emotions involved of our fans and it’s not easy to do these things”.

The NFL’s approval Tuesday of the Rams’ move from St. Louis to Los Angeles is going to get the Seahawks’ coach one game for at least the next three seasons in the city where he made his first huge coaching splash. If they do not act by January 16, 2017, the Oakland Raiders have a year to decide if they want to become the Los Angeles Raiders. The Chargers may be joining them, and for now, the Raiders have been squeezed out.

The NFL’s Los Angeles Committee is now considering a plan that would dissolve the Chargers and Raiders joint venture, clearing the way for the Chargers and Rams to move to Los Angeles instead.

After a preliminary vote favoured the Rams option by a 20-12 margin, the Raiders backed out of the relocation process and will remain in Oakland. The teams are now housed in three of the oldest stadiums in the league.

“Our commissioner was brilliant in how he led the ownership to this decision”.

For fans in Los Angeles: Wherever the Rams play in 2016, they’ll play host to the Cardinals, Seahawks, 49ers, Panthers, Falcons, Bills and Dolphins along with a designated “home game” in London against the Giants.

The relocation is expected to cost $500million and that is before a new stadium is even built.

Chargers owner Dean Spanos also made what was said to be an impassioned plea on behalf of his family. “But I think having a little more clarity about the Raiders’ situation will help advance those conversations as well”. We do have options.

The Raiders’ future is more uncertain, with the team’s lease at the Oakland Coliseum, the second smallest stadium in the National Football League, now expired and the city unwilling to contribute public money for a new stadium. “I will be working over the next several weeks to explore the options that we have now created for ourselves to determine the best path forward for the Chargers”. The Raiders and Chargers had submitted a proposal to share a new stadium in Carson, California as part of their bids to relocate, but that option was declined by league owners.

“We’ll see where the Raider nation ends up here”, said owner Mark Davis, who was equally noncommittal in comments to reporters outside the news conference.

“We might get another bite at the apple, but we’re still in a situation where we don’t control the outcome”, said Jason Roe, the chief political strategist to San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer. “Don’t feel bad. We will get it right”.

According to the LA Times, a $3 billion stadium has been approved and will be built in the Inglewood area of Los Angeles to house both the Rams and Chargers and will be opened in 2019.