Baltimore Would Offer NFL Team Many Lures
While the Maryland Stadium Authority continued to emphasize that its priority is expansion, officials there confirmed Monday that they have negotiated with existing franchises in the past, and would make a lucrative offer to others considering relocation.
Sources say the Rams will be one of those teams.
Although proposed Baltimore expansion owner Leonard (Boogie) Weinglass publicly broached the idea Sunday of buying the Rams, sources say the Rams would probably move without being purchased.
If Ram owner Georgia Frontiere is looking for a good stadium and training facility deal, the Maryland Stadium Authority would be happy to cast her as a returning hero.
She was married to Carroll Rosenbloom when he traded the Colts to Robert Irsay in 1972 for ownership of the Rams. Under Rosenbloom’s direction, the Colts won their only Super Bowl championship, after the 1970 season. Rosenbloom died in 1979.
If Frontiere brings a team back to Baltimore, she would be given:
* Use of a $165 million stadium in the Camden Yards area of downtown Baltimore, adjacent to Orioles Park. Construction will begin immediately after the city receives a team. The rent would be $1 per game.
The Rams pay the City of Anaheim a rental fee of 60 cents per admission, not to exceed $400,000 a year.
* All ticket revenues, including those from luxury boxes and club seats.
The Rams currently give up 7 1/2% of ticket revenue and 20% of their luxury box revenue to the city.
Baltimore’s luxury box policy would be of particular interest to the Rams because those revenues, often representing several million dollars a year, are the only admission monies not shared with the visiting team by NFL law.
* All parking and concession revenues.
The Rams receive barely more than half of parking revenues from the city under a sliding scale, and half of concessions.
* The old Colt practice facility with $4.5 million in renovations.
The Rams have never been totally satisfied with Rams Park in Anaheim, according to a city source.
Why is Baltimore willing to give up so much?
Partly because, after witnessing the recent success of the Orioles, the state has realized the impact of a professional sports team on the revitalized downtown area. And also because of memories the original Colts, who moved to Indianapolis after the 1983 season.
“We had a team, we lost a team, we know more than anybody what it feels like not to have one,” said Herb Belgrad, chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority.
Belgrad’s group negotiated with Bill Bidwill for the Cardinals before he moved from St. Louis to Phoenix after the 1987 season.
They also negotiated with Victor Kiam, former owner of the New England Patriots, before he sold the team to James Orthwein in 1992.
“And we have talked with two other teams who approached us about relocating, but they were still negotiating their leases with their landlords, so we didn’t get involved,” Belgrad said.
If Baltimore is not awarded the second expansion franchise on Nov. 30--St. Louis is favored because of its market size and locale--expect the city to chase an existing team with renewed fervor.
“After putting this much time and effort into the expansion thing . . . if something doesn’t work out there, I think we would try to do whatever it takes,” said one Maryland official.
According to Belgrad, his group will not approach a team unless, “the owner is irrevocable in his decision to relocate a franchise. In other words, we don’t want to be a wedge for anybody who wants to negotiate a new lease.”
It is unknown whether the Rams are looking for that wedge.
The only public sign of their unhappiness with their current arrangement can be found in litigation by the Angels against the City of Anaheim about plans by the Rams and the city in 1983 to build four office buildings on part of the stadium parking lot.
“We’ve had a very good relationship with the City of Anaheim,” John Shaw, Ram executive vice president, said Monday. “There is no unhappiness with the city.”
When asked if the Rams would explore the possibility of moving, however, Shaw said, “I have no comment on that.”
Privately, officials with the Rams and NFL have expressed concern about dwindling attendance. There is increasing wonder whether the Los Angeles area can support two NFL franchises.
In three home games this year, the Rams are averaging 48,382. They are on a pace to finish with their third-lowest average attendance since 1980. The second-lowest average attendance during that span was last year.
“We’re not getting excited over this,” said James D. Ruth, Anaheim city manager. “We have a contract with them, and we expect them to honor that. We hope that they stay.”
As reported Monday in The Times, the Rams have the mechanism to move through an escape clause that would force the Rams to give 15 months notice and pay off about $29 million-$30 million in remaining debt on stadium improvements.
With all the perks offered in their proposed stadium in Baltimore, they could make that money back quickly. The other expansion losers are expected to be Memphis and Jacksonville, but the stadiums in those cities are refurbished older facilities and the markets are considered too small.
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Times staff writers T. J. Simers and Matt Lait contributed to this story.
