Stan Kroenke Talks About His Future Stadium and “Feels” For L.A.

ESPN reports that the Saint Louis Rams have officially moved the franchise to Los Angeles effective immediately which means they will play out of LA for the 2016-2017 season. Rams fans in Visalia were also elated of the news that their beloved team was coming home.

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, City Attorney Jan Goldsmith and County Supervisor Ron Roberts – the trio at the top of the city negotiating team – held a news conference at which they displayed just the right amount of cautious enthusiasm and healthy realism about their chances of reaching a deal on a new stadium that would keep the Chargers here.

But based on the way things have unfolded, it doesn’t appear as though the Chargers will need the allotted year to make a decision. On the first day of eligibility, January 4, all three teams submitted their proposals, which the 17 members of the league’s finance, stadium and L.A. committees reviewed before offering their recommendation to the league’s 32 owners.

The Chargers were also given a second date of March 23, 2016. The Chargers play 120 miles (200 kilometers) south of Inglewood in aging Qualcomm Stadium. “There are die-hard fans up there and that’s unfortunate that the seasons have gone the way that they have and they couldn’t build the tradition of winning there”, says Wistrom”. “In 2019 they will be opening in a new stadium which we are all, as ownership, very excited about – the kind of facility that we believe will be extraordinarily successful in the Los Angeles market”.

Kroenke promised a future for the team in St. Louis as recently as 2014 in a radio interview, fans said in a complaint filed Wednesday in Missouri state court. Initially, the $1.7 billion Carson project was recommended by the league’s committee on Los Angeles opportunities. By Wednesday, large banners featuring Rams players were still up outside dome and on the interior rafters. For the past 21 years, the Chargers have been the only National Football League team in Southern California, playing in a stadium that opened in 1967. However, La Canfora has reported that the school changed its mind on Tuesday and is now willing to take on two temporary tenants, which is big news for the Chargers.

Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson, who played for the then-Los Angeles Rams from 1983-87, tweeted, “Welcome Home!”

The extra $100 million won’t complete the funding void with an Oakland stadium. In the case of San Diego, that includes a public vote required for the financing. The city is hoping to hold a vote in June.

According to Alex Flanagan, the framework for a deal that would send the Chargers bolting up the 405 freeway is in place. “Dean will take some time to evaluate the new options that have been created for the Chargers by the owners’ vote”.

On social media, many fans fondly remembered the “Greatest Show on Turf” Rams who were dominant from 1999 through 2003, winning one Super Bowl and losing another, before going on a 12-season run of non-winning seasons that included a 7-9 finish in 2015.