Save the Rams Task Force Ups Offer
With St. Louis and Baltimore knocking hard at the Rams’ door, the group trying to keep the team in Southern California upped the stakes Friday, presenting the Rams with a package that would assure the team revenues of between $15 million to $20 million a year.
For the first time, the new proposal also includes season-ticket and luxury box guarantees similar to ones being offered by other cities wooing the team.
In a two-hour meeting at the Rams’ Los Angeles headquarters Friday, members of the Save the Rams task force promised the Rams sales of 45,000 season tickets and the income from roughly 100 luxury boxes--mostly from within the Orange County business community.
The group also boosted the renovation package for Anaheim Stadium from the $40 million offered last month to $60 to $70 million, and included a definite timetable for completion of the renovations.
The new package more than doubles--from about $5 million to $12 million--the budget for a proposed state-of-the-art training facility and corporate headquarters in Orange. The facility would be built on the 26-acre site of the Stadium Drive-In across the Santa Ana River from the stadium.
Ram President John Shaw’s only public comments Friday were that he was taking the new proposal under consideration. But Shaw told Save the Rams members he is speeding up the timetable and will be making a decision about the team’s future in the next four to six weeks. He plans to respond to the latest Save the Rams proposal within the next two weeks, task force members said.
Friday’s meeting was attended for the first time by Dale (Chip) Rosenbloom, owner Georgia Frontiere’s son with the late Ram owner Carroll Rosenbloom. Save the Rams members said Rosenbloom asked a number of pointed questions about the proposal.
“The fact that Chip Rosenbloom is there is (a sign) that we’re being taken more seriously,” said Orange County Supervisor William G. Steiner, who attended the meeting. “The important thing is the process is continuing. The door has not been shut. (Shaw) has been characterized as having made up his mind. Well, he sure asked a lot of questions.”
Save the Rams co-chairman Leigh Steinberg said he was optimistic Friday’s offer would put Anaheim in strong contention to keep the team--without “imperiling the financial stability” of the county.
“The irony of all this is that it took the Rams talking about leaving to put together the type of deal that would have made them very happy all along,” said Steinberg.
Steinberg said the package presented Friday included changing the name of team to Orange County Rams and “a commitment in terms of quality of on-field product and marketing and promotion of the team in Orange County.”
A proposal to buy a minority share of the team continues to be part of the package, though not a focus, Steinberg said. But a new proposal that would have had a local group buying the team for an estimated $150 million to $200 million was quickly quashed by Shaw.
The group also addressed Shaw’s concerns about Anaheim Stadium’s co-tenants, the California Angels.
“The Angels are critical to this process,” said Steinberg, who declined to elaborate on specific plans. He said the idea is to build a new baseball stadium in the same general area.
