It’s St. Louis Rams 23-6, Anaheim 0 : Sports: After 50 years in Southland, team heads for greener field. League gets $46-million cut for agreeing to move.

The Los Angeles Rams are history, officially gone to a richer pasture in St. Louis after winning the blessing of the National Football League on Wednesday with a ransom payoff of $46 million.

Rams owner Georgia Frontiere was asked to remain outside while the vote of league owners reached 22-6 in favor of the move, then was called on to cast the required 23rd vote. The Raiders abstained.

“I thought about it for a few minutes,” said Frontiere, joking. “My grandmother had a saying, ‘Go little where wanted, go not at all where little wanted.’ And that’s about the way it’s been (in Anaheim). I think they will be better off too.”

League owners also approved the bid of Stan Kroenke, a Columbia, Mo., businessman, to purchase 30% of the team from Frontiere.

“The game is over, and I won’t say we won but . . . well, I guess we won one,” Frontiere said. “I think we all won.”

The Rams will play four games in Busch Stadium and then finish the 1995 regular season in the $260-million domed stadium being constructed. But before they make their first appearance in St. Louis, the Rams will play the Raiders in an exhibition game, presumably in Southern California and possibly in Anaheim Stadium.

The Raiders’ stadium concerns, which include a bid for two Super Bowls and financial assistance for construction of a new facility, were discussed for an hour after the vote on the Rams. There were indications the league will look favorably on the Raiders’ demands, but a vote will not be taken until a May owners meeting in Jacksonville, Fla.

“We spent a lot of time talking about the Raiders,” said Jerry Jones, Cowboys owner. “I can’t imagine L.A. without a football team, but who would have thought two years ago the Rams would be out of L.A.?”

The Rams’ move, which was the brainchild of John Shaw, team president, ends a 50-year relationship with Southern California and gives St. Louis, which lost the Cardinals to Phoenix in 1988, pro football once again.

“I’m just relieved that it’s finished,” Shaw said. “I’m happy for the fans of St. Louis, and I hope that fans in Los Angeles will get another NFC team.”

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said placing another National Football Conference team in the Los Angeles market will be a high priority.

“We hope to be able to put together a plan to have a second team in L.A.,” Tagliabue said. “It could be expansion, or it could be the relocation of an existing franchise.”

But Tagliabue backed off a plan calling for the Rams to establish a stadium trust fund for the renovation or construction of a stadium in Southern California.

“The (finance) committee felt that was a judgment that would be premature to make,” Tagliabue said. “Many clubs felt the best use (of the Rams money) was for NFL charities.”

Shaw said he believes the league will attempt to place another NFC team in the Los Angeles area at the conclusion of the league’s present television contract after the 1997 season.

“I think it’s in the best interests of the league to have teams playing in Los Angeles, but playing in modern facilities,” Shaw said.

The Rams last May exercised an escape clause in their Anaheim Stadium lease to begin the pursuit for a state-of-the-art football facility that would provide additional opportunities for revenue, such as premium seating and luxury boxes.

Shaw struck a lucrative deal with St. Louis that hinged on the sale of more than $70 million in personal seat licenses, which are onetime payments made for the right to purchase season tickets in the future. Shaw contended the PSL money belonged to the Rams. The league said member clubs were entitled to 33% of that money.

The NFL Finance Committee met late into the night Tuesday and then came to Shaw demanding $46 million, $17 million in PSL money and a $29-million relocation fee. The NFL wanted the Rams to pay the league $20 million now and the remainder over 15 years.

“I advised Georgia and Stan not to accept the NFL’s offer,” Shaw said. “I thought it had become too pricey, but it’s their team and it was their decision to make.”

Frontiere and Kroenke, although aware the NFL’s offer has built-in provisos concerning television and expansion money that could drive up the Rams’ obligation to $71.5 million, agreed to settle.

“Sometimes change is good,” Frontiere said. “This is something I want to do, and once I started down the path I wasn’t about to stop. I want to be in St. Louis.”

Although it appeared that Frontiere had to buy her way to St. Louis, Tagliabue strongly disagreed.

“It did not come down to a money deal with the Rams,” Tagliabue said. “That is a completely erroneous implication and had very little to do with it. There will be no money paid to the other member clubs of the league. There is a payment called for to the league, which may go to NFL charities or may go to a stadium trust fund. But (money) was the least of our concerns.”

The Rams offered the league $25.5 million a month ago in Phoenix, but league owners voted 21 to 3 against approving the move, with six abstentions. The Rams increased their offer to $37.5 million a week ago.

The team also had to agree to pay 50% of any losses claimed by Fox TV up to $12.5 million. Network spokesman Vince Wladika said, “We’re studying the ramifications of losing the No. 2 television market from our NFC package. It’s an open issue for us to discuss.”

And if the league expands in the next 10 years and a team is not placed in the Southern California market, the Rams must pass on a $13-million expansion payoff.

“The money involved here was insignificant,” Tagliabue insisted. “What was involved was the issue of principle, of moving a team out of a market when the perception of many member clubs was that the team was doing well financially and doing better than a lot of other member clubs.”

So what changed a 21-3 vote against into 23-6 in favor in less than a month?

“The desire to have peace and not be at war was a big factor,” Tagliabue said.

The Rams, who expect a profit in excess of $20 million a year in St. Louis, threatened to a file an antitrust suit later this week seeking billions in damages if blocked from making the move.

“About five or six owners didn’t want to get the other owners into litigation, so they switched their votes,” said Jonathan Kraft, son of Robert Kraft, Patriots owner.

Dan Rooney, Steelers owner, voted against the move. “I believe we should support the fans who have supported us for years,” he said.

In addition, the New York Giants, New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Arizona Cardinals and Washington Redskins voted against the Rams.

“I told Georgia I didn’t vote against her, I voted for the league,” said Wellington Mara, owner of the Giants. “I think the move weakens the strength of our bylaws, which are very important to us.

“I’m not sure of the change in feelings from Phoenix to here, but I don’t think some of the owners wanted to face another triple-damages lawsuit,” Mara added, referring to the league’s defeat after a long and bitter court battle over its unsuccessful attempt to prevent the Raiders’ move to Los Angeles from Oakland in 1982.

Wayne Weaver, owner of the new Jacksonville franchise, said, “It’s healthy for the league. It opens up a new venue, moves a team into a state-of-the-art facility and ensures a stable franchise for the next 30 years.”

Although the NFL conceded the Rams did not meet NFL guidelines in winning approval to move, instead of blocking the team, the league adopted a resolution giving it additional power to stop another team trying to gain the same financial edge by moving into Anaheim.

“That’s good,” said Bud Adams, Oilers owner. “We don’t want to go through another scenario like this. I wouldn’t say the Rams qualified, but business-wise we voted them in because it’s a good deal for them and a good deal for St. Louis.

“Orange County to me would be the place to have a team. Anaheim’s not that bad, but the attitude that’s needed is we already had one team leave, now we need to see about getting another team. But they are not going to go back there into one of the old stadiums there. It’s going to need renovation or something done to it.”

Sports agent Leigh Steinberg, who led a group trying to keep the Rams in Orange County, said: “Clearly, the league has decided here that the violation of their guidelines governing franchise relocation isn’t important. The NFL’s got some mighty tall explaining to do as to how violations of their own relocation policy by the Rams suddenly became acceptable.”

Anaheim officials reacted graciously to the vote.

“We just wish them well,” City Manager James D. Ruth said. “We have no hard feelings and congratulate the city of St. Louis in getting a franchise.”

City Councilman Tom Tait said, “As a fan, I’m disappointed. But this vote puts some closure to the situation and I think that’s positive.”

Tait and others said that the uncertainty of the team’s status has made it difficult for the city to focus on the future.

“With this thing up in the air, it’s kept everyone on edge,” Ruth said. “It helps clear the air and we will be able to move on with life.”

“The one thing we know now that we didn’t know before is that the NFL believes that Anaheim is a place that NFL football can and will be supported,” City Councilman Bob Zemel said. “The Mighty Ducks are selling out at The Pond and the (Los Angeles) Clippers are selling out each time they play here. The Angels are still drawing 3 million people a year and Anaheim is still a worldwide tourist destination.”

Times staff writer Greg Hernandez and the Associated Press contributed to this story.

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