Disclaimer: yes, the escape clause the St Louis Stadium Authority gave to the Rams back in 1995 is about the stupidest decision ever made in St Louis. Dumber than Steve Carleton for Rick Wise. Dumber than the separation of St Louis City from St Louis County in 1876, and dumber than no bridge spanned the Mississippi River in St Louis until 1874.
I am through with the Rams and through with the NFL. Henceforth, I will have nothing to do with the NFL I will cherish the magical 1999 Super Bowl season: Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Torry Holt and “The Tackle” made by Mike Jones on Kevin Dyson to seal the victory with time expiring.
But I consider the franchise ended in 2010 when Kronke got majority ownership.
I remember when Rush Limbaugh wanted to buy the Rams and a bunch of people went nuts including one of the local sports writers. They said that Rush would be the worse possible thing for the Rams and St. Louis. I’m no fan of Rush, but I think Kronke turned out worse.
As with a few others in the thread, I lived in Baltimore when the Colts moved, so I can speak from experience. No, I did not remain a fan of the team, and was ‘teamless’ until the Ravens came about.
I’m actually now on the other side of the fence… I live in Los Angeles, but don’t foresee myself becoming a Rams fan. Maybe as a ‘second team’, but I’ll always be a Ravens fan.
That’s not entirely true. There’s a book called “Stolen Season” by a reporter named David Lamb, who was a Boston native and Braves fan who continued to support the team in Milwaukee. I’m guessing that he was typical of fans in two-team cities from back in the day when their team left, they probably disliked the other team in their city and did not switch allegiance to it. Certainly fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants did not become Yankee fans when their teams left New York (though they did, in the main, become Mets fans when the Mets were enfranchised).
I can assure you there are no Baltimore fans in Cleveland.
I think it would near kill me if my Cleveland Indians left for greener pastures. I guess I might become a Reds or Pirates fan. But having lived through a previous “absconding” of a team, I don’t think I could follow my Tribe out of town.
What I’m wonder is what games will be played on TV in St. Louis. They’re pretty much right in the middle between the Bears, Colts, Chiefs, and Titans. Is it just going to be whatever match-up is popular that week, or are they going to be stuck with L.A. Rams afternoon games.
I was a Colts season ticket holder when they left Baltimore. I did not remain a Colts fan; in fact I stopped being a pro football fan. When the Cleveland Browns became the Baltimore Ravens, I could not become a Ravens fan. I felt too much sympathy for what had been done to Cleveland to embrace the Ravens. It took years, the sale of the team to a Baltimore-area billionaire, and the contagious enthusiasm of my two brothers to wear down my resistance and make me a luke-warm Ravens fan.
When the Cardinals left for Arizona after the 1987 season, the local station continued to carry the Cardinals games whenever possible, saying more fans were interested in the Cardinals than whatever random game would have aired. After a few years the ratings came down and the station went back to the regular featured game of the week.
The Rams’ station hasn’t said what they will do this time. The Bears, Colts and Titans have almost no local fan base, the Chiefs only have a small base (and being an AFC team, they air on a different channel, anyway.)
Ask me about the Seattle SuperSonics. Really. (I won’t mention the city they moved to or what they renamed themselves, since I wish to consign both the the eternal burning hell of absolute ignonimity.)
Detroit sports fan here. My loyalty is based on proximity.
If the Lions moved, my Sunday afternoons would free up and my mood on Monday mornings would improve.
If the Pistons moved I’d be a little peeved but nothing more.
If the Tigers moved I’d be really angry. They’ve been the background noise to my summers for all of my life.
If the Red Wings moved…they couldn’t move. There would be blood running in the streets. It would be like the Yankees leaving New York or the Packers leaving Green Bay.
As for me, I’m only a fan if they are in the LA area. I grew up cheering for the Rams, then the Raiders came and I “adopted” them. However, once they left, I gave them up as the NFL. I did watch most Super Bowls though. Now, that the Rams are coming back to LA. I’ll root for them.
From the opposite perspective: I used to HATE the Rams when they played in LA, then stopped caring about them when they moved to St. Louis. I am glad they are moving back so I can hate them again!
When the Browns moved to Baltimore, I started following the Bills until they returned (the Steelers were a no go, obviously, and the other tow nearby teams, the Lions and the Bengals were jokes.) I’m not sure if there’s cross-state antipathy between the Rams and Chiefs, but lacking that, you’ve got to follow somebody. Right?
It has to be said, the Bills made a special effort to court Cleveland fans, including paying for a bus to run Browns fans from near the site of the old CMS up to Rich Stadium.
I’m from Kansas City and SL and KC are long term sports rivalries which showed up the biggest during the SL-KC World Series in 1985.
I doubt SL fans will ally with KC.
Now remember though certain sports franchises have a nationwide fan base such as the Yankees, SL Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, and Dallas Cowboys. Many fans of those teams travel to host cities to watch them play. That’s why when say the Yankees play the Royals the stadium is filled with Yankees fans.
I can tell you that the KC Chiefs stadium, Arrowhead, is located right on I-29 with plentiful and affordable parking. Kansas City is located within an 8 hour drive to about 1/4th the country, so many people can and will drive hundreds of miles from points all over the midwest to watch NFL football and their favorite teams.
Oh and KCI airport is only 20 minutes away and is the fastest airport in the US to get in and out of making out of town travel especially easy. A person can fly in for a sunday game from say California and then jump right back on a plane and be back in time for work Monday morning.
I should also mention to you all that around here college teams like University of Missouri Tigers in Columbia, located about 100 miles from St. Louis, has a major following rivaling even the NFL especially since they joined the Southeast conference.
It’s about a 4-5 hour drive up to Chicago but its more of a hassle to park there.
So my prediction - SL Rams fans will switch to just college or occasionally coming to KC to watch favorite teams. At least until they get suckered into another deal like they did in 1995 when they sold their first born child to get the Rams.
