The St. Louis Rams are rumored to be moving back to Southern California, with sources close to the team telling Los Angeles media outlets that an official announcement of the relocation will be coming in August.
The Rams have been long rumored to be returning to Los Angeles, and owner Stan Kroenke has been clear about his desire to grow a team there. He has released plans for a stadium development in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, and now it appears he will be officially moving the team there.
A source told KTLA in Los Angeles that the team is definitely moving, and Inglewood mayor James Butts appeared to confirm the move.
If the St. Louis Rams rumors are true, it would be a boon to the NFL and owners, who have desired to bring a team back to Los Angeles. And as the Los Angeles Times noted, Kroenke’s stadium proposal is much more than just a field and stands.
“Rams owner Stan Kroenke, who bought 60 acres adjacent to the Forum a year ago, has joined forces with the owners of the 238-acre Hollywood Park site, Stockbridge Capital Group. They plan to add an 80,000-seat NFL stadium and 6,000-seat performance venue to the already-massive development of retail, office, hotel and residential space, Stockbridge and the Kroenke Group told The Times.”
But there had been signs in recent days that seemed as if the St. Louis Rams might be able to remain in Missouri . The city of St. Louis put together a task force to investigate building a stadium, and the co-chair appeared to present a way to keep the team while letting Kroenke move to Los Angeles.
“It’s possible we have different ownership of the [Rams] because I think [Kroenke] is really committed to Los Angeles,” said task force co-chair Dave Peacock this week, via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch . “I’m not against Stan going to Los Angeles, I just don’t want our team there. This is why we’re spending most of our time with the league — we think this is an NFL issue.”
While he didn’t talk about St. Louis specifically, commissioner Roger Goodell said that relocation would happen one way or another.
“We’re significantly farther than we have been on any relocation in the recent past,” he said as May owner meetings ended.
If the rumors are true, the St. Louis Rams would have at least one more season in St. Louis. Goodell has already said that no teams will be relocating in 2015.
[Image via SacBee ]
