Los Angeles Rams Team History

On January 12, 1946, Reeves obtained the consent of the NFL to allow his team to relocate to Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which had a seating capacity at the time of 105,000 far greater than their Cleveland venue’s. This placed the Rams more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km) away from the nearest NFL team, at the time (in Chicago).

Prior to their 1979 Super Bowl season, owner Carroll Rosenbloom drowned in an accident; his widow, Georgia Frontiere, inherited 70% ownership of the team. Frontiere fired her step-son, Steve Rosenbloom, to assume total control of the franchise. As had been planned prior to Carroll Rosenbloom’s death, the Rams moved from their longtime home at the L.A. Coliseum to Anaheim Stadium in nearby Orange County, in 1980. The reason for the move was twofold; first, attendance. L.A. Memorial Coliseum was more difficult to sell-out than stadiums in other NFL cities because of its abnormally large seating capacity (100,000); and, Pete Rozelle—who had since become NFL Commissioner—created a ‘black-out rule’ preventing any home game that wasn’t sold-out 72 hours before kickoff from being broadcast in its local TV market. Second, the Southern California’s population patterns were changing: there was rapid growth in L.A.’s affluent suburbs (e.g., greater Orange County), and a decline in the city of Los Angeles’ citizenship and earning power. Anaheim Stadium was originally built in 1965 as the home of the California Angels Major League Baseball franchise. To accommodate the Rams’ move, the ballpark was re-configured with luxury suites, and enclosed to accommodate crowds of about 65,000 for football.

Georgia Frontiere attempted to relocate the Rams to Baltimore, Maryland, but that deal was eventually stopped. Mrs. Frontiere then sought to re-locate the team to the city of St. Louis. NFL owners (of the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, Giants, Washington Redskins, Arizona Cardinals, and the Minnesota Vikings, specifically) voted to oppose the move, arguing that Frontiere who was claiming that, without the extra revenues from a new stadium, the L.A. market was so unprofitable that it risked bankrupting the Rams had badly mismanaged the team. Nevertheless, she threatened to sue the NFL itself; ultimately, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue acquiesced to Frontiere’s demands. As part of the re-location deal, the city of St. Louis agreed to build a taxpayer-financed stadium, and guaranteed that the stadium’s amenities would be maintained in the top 25% of all stadiums in the National Football League. Frontiere waived the clause after a 10-year threshold period had passed, though, as the city implemented a later plan to improve the stadium.

The day following the conclusion of the 2015 regular season, the Rams, Oakland Raiders, and San Diego Chargers all filed to relocate to Los Angeles. The same day, the NFL announced that any franchise approved for relocation would need to pay a $550 million relocation fee. On January 12, 2016, the NFL owners voted 30–2 to allow the Rams to return to Los Angeles. The Rams are the second NFL franchise to return to a city they had previously played in. The first NFL franchise to relocate to a previous city was the Raiders, who had left Los Angeles, along with the Rams, in 1995; the Raiders relocated back to the Coliseum in Oakland, California. The Rams are the first major league sports team to relocate since 2011, when the Atlanta Thrashers left Atlanta and became the Winnipeg Jets, which, similar to St. Louis, was the second time Atlanta lost a sports team in that league (NHL). The Rams held a press conference at The Forum in Inglewood on January 15, 2016, to officially announce its return to Los Angeles to start play in the 2016 season. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will be the temporary home stadium of the Rams until City of Champions Stadium is finished for the 2019 season.

The Los Angeles Stadium and Entertainment District at Hollywood Park is a sports and entertainment district currently under construction in Inglewood, California, United States, about 3 miles (5 km) from Los Angeles International Airport and adjacent to The Forum. The stadium will serve as the home of the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL) when it opens in 2019.

The stadium is a component of the City of Champions Revitalization Initiative, the working title of the development on the site of the former Hollywood Park Racetrack. On January 5, 2015, it was announced that Stan Kroenke, the owner of the then St. Louis Rams had partnered with Stockbridge Capital (owners of the Hollywood Park Land Company), to build an NFL stadium on the existing Hollywood Park development and on a parcel of land owned by Kroenke. After collecting more than 20,000 petition signatures to allow for the rezoning of the proposed stadium site to allow for an NFL venue on the site, the Inglewood City Council approved the stadium with a unanimous 5–0 vote removing any possible legal obstacles.