Ram Booster Leaves Meeting Pessimistic : NFL: After two-hour conference with Frontiere and Shaw, group’s president thinks team will move to St. Louis.

A two-hour meeting with Ram Owner Georgia Frontiere and President John Shaw left the president of the team’s booster club even more 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 Thursday night at Frontiere’s home in Bel-Air.

“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 the Save the Rams task force, 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 paper. “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, are projecting a $6-million loss this year.

“They don’t seem to blame the fans, but they mentioned several times they’re very disappointed there are not more fans who come to games regardless of the team’s win-loss record, like they do in other communities,” Bryant said. “Based on that, they’re losing money, and they’re not willing to continue losing money.”

Though the group did not talk about specifics of the Save the Rams’ package--which includes a renovated stadium, new practice facility and season-ticket and luxury suite guarantees--the impact of Orange County’s financial crisis was discussed.

“(Frontiere) asked about it and we talked about it, and I think it will impact her a little bit,” Bryant said. “It’s going to make it a little easier when they make their (relocation) presentation to the NFL,” which would likely vote on the move at its March meetings.

“They’ll have a better story to tell to get other owners to empathize with them. They’ll think, ‘Shoot, if the county is going bankrupt, how are they going to fulfill their promises to the Rams?’ It’s not going to lessen our resolve or change our strategy (to keep the team). It just makes it tougher.”