The St. Louis Rams, San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders have all applied for relocation, but the Rams' Inglewood relocation bid claims to have the best plan for Los Angeles and the NFL's future, according to Sam Farmer and Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times.
League owners meet in Houston next week, and a resolution is expected to be found through a vote, in which 24 of the leagues 32 owners will have to approve if any team is to relocate. While Rams owner Stan Kroenke has been focused with the Inglewood location, the Chargers and Raiders have hired Disney chairman and chief executive Bob Iger to run their joint Carson Stadium project. Kroenke reportedly offered a partnership to either the Chargers or Raiders to join him in Inglewood in hopes of increasing his chances of getting the necessary votes, but neither team was interested in jumping on the Inglewood relocation plan.
While Kroenke currently may not have the necessary votes to relocate to Los Angeles, the proposed bid is reportedly expected to show the league how the move will benefit not only the Rams but the NFL, according to Farmer and Fenno. The Rams' application has the Inglewood stadium start date set for the 2019 season and would be capable of hosting two NFL teams with 70,240 fixed seats. Kroenke wants to make this stadium the center of west coast football, and the plan includes being able to host the combine and the pro bowl.
The Rams have put all their chips at the center of the table, and they believe that they fully deserve this move not only because they have the best plan, but because they have the biggest fan base in Los Angeles. "Polling throughout the relocation process has consistently shown the Rams as a single team have more fan support than the Chargers and Raiders combined," the application stated, via The Los Angeles Times.
It will be interesting to follow what happens in the owners meeting next week, and if a resolution can be made regarding which teams will be allowed to relocate, if any. The Rams clearly believe that they have put the best proposal forward, but they will still need to prove that to the rest of the league owners in order to get out of St. Louis.
