Q & A : What’s Behind Rams’ Search for New Home
The check is signed, the notification letter written, the brief press release prepared, and today the Rams will officially inform the city of Anaheim that they are terminating their lease for Anaheim Stadium effective Aug. 3, 1995.
“It’s 100%,” said John Shaw, Ram executive vice president. “Our legal counsel, Bob Meyer of Loeb & Loeb, will deliver the letter and check to the city notifying the city that we are exercising the escape clause in our lease.”
The city of Anaheim provided the Rams with an escape clause from their 30-year lease for Anaheim Stadium in 1990 in exchange for the team’s agreement not to block or delay the construction of Anaheim Arena.
The escape clause called for 15 months’ notice and a $2-million deposit toward paying off bonds issued for expanding Anaheim Stadium when the Rams moved from Los Angeles. The team must pay off the remaining bonds, estimated at $30 million, if it terminates the lease.
The Rams can revoke today’s notice at any time, but they will lose their $2-million deposit if they do. The team said it remains open to the possibility of staying in Anaheim, but today’s action frees the Rams to begin negotiations to move elsewhere.
“I wouldn’t expect anything to happen for a while,” Shaw said. “We are in no position at this time to sign a letter of intent to move anywhere, or anything like that. We will take our time and explore all options.”
Following are some of the more frequently asked questions and answers about the Rams’ possible move.
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Q. Why are the Rams considering moving to another city?
A. The Rams believe their opportunities to increase revenue are limited by their stadium lease and the lack of passion in local sports fans. They believe interest on the part of cities that failed to land expansion franchises provides a window of opportunity to consider a move.
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Q. Why is today significant?
A. The Rams are giving 15-months’ notice to allow them the opportunity to play elsewhere by the opening of the exhibition season on Aug. 4, 1995.
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Q. What will the Rams do next?
A. The Rams believe they have given the city of Anaheim a four-month head start to make its pitch to keep the team. They will now entertain offers from cities interested in having the team begin play in 1995.
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Q. What other steps must the Rams take with Anaheim to move?
A. In addition to paying off the $30-million in bonds on the expansion of Anaheim Stadium, the team must provide six months’ notice to the city to release itself from its practice facility lease.
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Q. What steps must the Rams take with the National Football League?
A. To play elsewhere in 1995, the Rams must provide 30 days’ notice of their intention to move before the regularly scheduled owners’ meetings next March. The team must also follow a prescribed set of rules to move and then win approval from three-quarters of the league owners. The Rams also have the option of ignoring the league rules and filing a lawsuit to win their freedom.
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Q. Does owner Georgia Frontiere really want to move?
A. Probably not, but John Shaw, her business adviser, continues to make an argument that the only way to increase revenue is to move. In an interview with The Times on Dec. 22, Frontiere said moving the franchise “is something that you have to consider. . . . It’s just a fact of life. People do look at other possibilities in life.” Shaw has also advised her that the best way to accomplish this is to sell a minority interest in the team to someone in the city to which they would move. To date, this suggestion has not been accepted.
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Q. What city is the leading candidate to land the Rams?
A. Baltimore, which has been trying to bring NFL football back since the Colts left in 1984, has been most often mentioned. But St. Louis, Memphis, San Antonio and Hartford, Conn., are also considered to be in the running.
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Q. What are the other cities offering?
A. All but Memphis would have a new, state-of-the-art stadium for an NFL tenant. Most have lucrative revenue packages and low or no rent. Example: Baltimore’s deal would include a new, $160-million stadium, all revenue from tickets, sky boxes, club seats, parking and concessions for a team, and the rent would be $1 per game. And the city would throw in a renovated practice facility.
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Q. What do Anaheim officials think about the possible departure of the Rams?
A. Those who have spoken for publication seem divided: Mayor Tom Daly expressing optimism that a plan can be worked out to keep the Rams, while other city officials, notably Councilmen Irv Pickler and Bob D. Simpson as well as City Atty. Jack L. White, have expressed pessimism.
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Q. Is there anything Anaheim can do to keep the Rams?
A. The city might make adjustments to the present stadium lease and improvements in the Big A. Daly has been soliciting financial support from Orange County and the business community to keep the team in Orange County. He has proposed building a massive retail center near Anaheim Stadium and linking the city’s tourism assets, such as Disneyland and the Convention Center, to the facility as a way to boost revenues. He has also suggested finding private investors to participate in building a stadium. But his proposals have little support among his council colleagues.
Ultimately, however, perhaps the only way the Rams will stay is if Frontiere decides a move is too much hassle.
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Q. Is there any chance a group of local investors could buy the team and keep it here?
A. Local business leaders have informally discussed the idea, but Frontiere has said she will not sell.
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Q. Will the city suffer financially if the team leaves?
A. City officials claim the impact will be minimal, especially because the stadium debt would be paid off. The deal with the Rams brought in approximately $2.9 million in 1993, but the city had to pay operating costs out of that. Local businesses such as hotels and restaurants say, though, that the departure of the Rams would take a toll of their revenues.
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Q. What will the city do to fill Anaheim Stadium if the team leaves?
A. City officials say they will try to book more concerts and specialty events, such as motocross, to fill the dates left vacant by the Rams. They will also try to bring another NFL team to Anaheim.
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Q. Is there a chance another NFL team would come here?
A. It isn’t likely for quite some time. The league recently went through its latest round of expansion and will probably not grow further for several years. Making an offer that could lure an existing team would be an expensive proposition. The hope might be that if the Raiders were also to leave Southern California, as has been discussed, the NFL would then be without any team in one of its largest television markets, a very unattractive situation that might demand correction.
Times staff writer Matt Lait contributed to this story.