Indication Is That Rams Will Leave : Pro football: Boosters meet Frontiere, Shaw and come away feeling decision to move to St. Louis already has been made.

A two-hour meeting with Ram owner Georgia Frontiere and President John Shaw has left the president of the team’s booster club pessimistic about Orange County’s chances of keeping the team.

“I get the sense they’re fairly committed to going to St. Louis,” said Frank Bryant, who joined booster club vice president Linda Moomau for the meeting at Frontiere’s home in Bel-Air last Thursday night.

“They didn’t say that, but during the conversation, it sounded more like a conclusion than a possibility. They were talking about how things ‘will’ be rather than how they ‘might’ be. That leads me to believe someone is already thinking they’re there.”

The meeting marked the first time Frontiere has discussed the team’s possible relocation with a group trying to prevent the move. Repeated attempts by Save the Rams, of which Bryant is a member, for a meeting with the owner have been unsuccessful.

“This was strictly from a fan’s viewpoint--we weren’t representing Save the Rams,” Bryant said. “She wanted to meet with us primarily because she feels that even though she might make a decision to move, she owes the fans something after all these years.”

Bryant said he stressed to Frontiere that “it’s only a small minority” of fans who say disparaging things about the owner, and that there are a number of sincere fans who don’t want the team to leave, regardless of what she reads in the newspaper. “But that doesn’t reduce the hurt of what some fans say,” Bryant said.

The boosters asked Frontiere what they could do to persuade her to stay. “She said it’s a business decision, that the dollar amounts are so large (in St. Louis) that it’s difficult to not give that serious consideration,” Bryant said.

St. Louis is offering a new, publicly financed, 70,000-seat domed stadium and a lucrative lease that could net the Rams profits of about $25 million a year. The Rams, suffering from sagging attendance, say they are projecting a $6-million loss this year.

Also discussed was the impact of Orange County’s financial crisis. “It’s going to make it a little easier when they make their (relocation) presentation to the NFL,” Bryant said.

The league probably will vote on the move at its March meetings.