St. Louis Rams Return To Los Angeles

Twenty-one years after leaving Los Angeles, the Rams will be returning to the West Coast after an owners’ vote on Tuesday night approved the team’s relocation.

Thirty of 32 owners approved the proposal for the Rams to relocate to a stadium that will be built on the site of the old Hollywood Park racetrack 10 miles from downtown Los Angeles. The San Diego Chargers will have a year-long option to join the Rams there; if they do not, the Oakland Raiders will have the chance to relocate.

“I often said over those 21 years what we need is a great facility,” commissioner Roger Goodell said at a news conference. “I think what happened over the last years is we had two outstanding opportunities. Both of these stadium projects were outstanding.”

Today, with the NFL returning home, Los Angeles cements itself as the epicenter of the sports world,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement. “We cannot wait to welcome the Rams, and perhaps others soon, as they join a storied lineup of professional franchises, collegiate powerhouses and sports media companies.”

The reaction in the midwest was understandably less happy. NHL goalie Ben Bishop, who grew up in St. Louis County, also came to the fans’ defense in an unlikely way.

The Tampa Bay Lightning goalie shut out the Colorado Avalanche, who are owned by the son of Rams’ owner Stan Kroenke, allowing him and Rams fans everywhere to get a small bit of revenge.

 

Photo: Punter Johnny Hekker #6 of the St. Louis Rams looks to pass against the Green Bay Packers in the third quarter at Lambeau Field on October 11, 2015 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)