Recent Forum Topics › Forums › The Rams Huddle › Demoff on the move, plus the mayor of Inglewoodm & more etc.
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March 3, 2016 at 8:33 pm #39915
znModeratorKevin Demoff, Rams
Rams executive Kevin Demoff comments on the key to securing his team’s relocation bid, L.A.’s new stadium complex, leaving fans in St. Louis behind and the squad’s value.
March 3, 2016 at 8:36 pm #39916znModeratorMarch 3, 2016 at 8:57 pm #39923znModeratorMayors around Los Angeles County gather in Long Beach to talk LA Rams, ports, education
Greg Yee, Press-Telegram
Mayors from about 40 cities around Los Angeles County gathered at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach Wednesday to discuss regional issues including trade and transportation, and to hear about the Rams return to the area.
The event — the latest in a series of quarterly mayors’ gatherings — featured Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia and county supervisors Don Knabe and Mark Ridley-Thomas.
Inglewood Mayor James Butts, Jr. gave a lengthy presentation about how he and others worked to bring the Rams to Inglewood, a journey that saw the city come back from the brink of bankruptcy, he said.
“The Inglewood that I came into Feb. 1 of 2011 would never have had a football team,” he said.
When Butts, who served for decades in the Inglewood Police Department, left the city in 1991 to become Santa Monica Police Chief, The Forum was home to the Showtime Lakers and the LA Kings. Hollywood Park drew 38,000 people four days a week and tens of thousands more for large race days.
In 2011 the city was on the verge of bankruptcy with an unfunded liability of $117 million and $11 million left in reserves, enough to keep the city going for just six months.
The city eliminated about 140 positions, set no cost of living increases for employees, put furloughs into place, raised water rates and outsourced parking patrols, tree trimming and street sweeping.
In 2014 Butts got a call requesting a meeting with a man he had never heard of — Stan Kroenke.
Kroenke, a developer and Rams’ owner, made his pitch for building Rams stadium in Inglewood but wanted the city to contribute public money toward the project.
Butts declined the offer, but countered with a proposal of his own for a stadium as part of a sports and entertainment district. Kroenke was intrigued.
In the following months owners at Hollywood Park decided to participate in a series of meetings, and much of the preliminary work had been done by the time the Rams’ interest in moving from St. Louis was announced publicly.
“We were the only project in the county that more than just a bunch of pretty pictures imagining what it might be,” Butts said. “We had actual construction done and architectural work done.”
After Butts concluded his talk, Garcia discussed trade, the ports and the Long Beach College Promise, a signature education partnership between the city, Cal State Long Beach, Long Beach Unified and Long Beach City College.
For many, like Garcetti, the quarterly gathering of mayors is a way to foster connections between the county’s far-flung cities, and to exchange ideas.
“This is really about creating relationships across cities,” he said. “Economic development, homelessness, those things ignore borders. It’s time for us to do the same thing.”
March 4, 2016 at 1:52 pm #39973znModeratorCowboys’ training palace will set stage for Rams to build same
Nick Wagoner
When the NFL announced in January that the Rams are moving back to Los Angeles, commissioner Roger Goodell pointed to owner Stan Kroenke’s ability to build a world-class venue in Inglewood as the driving force behind the decision.
It’s believed that when all is said and done, Kroenke’s football palace will surpass even that of the Cowboys’ AT&T stadium and become one of the preeminent sporting venues in the world.
But what about the place where the Rams will spend more than just 10 days (or so) a year? Well, if you’re wondering what the Rams’ training facility could look like, look no further than what Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is putting together in Frisco, Texas.
On Thursday ESPN’s Jean-Jacques Taylor took a closer look at the massive development and practice facility the Cowboys are building. As you’d expect, Jones’ project is every bit as extravagant and over the top as everything else he does.
It’s also a blueprint for what the Rams are likely to build once they get settled in Los Angeles. As Taylor mentions:
“Now, the Rams are planning on creating a similar concept with their training facility after they resettle in California,” Taylor writes.
Indeed they are. For now the Rams are setting up shop in temporary venues north of Los Angeles, and when they do build their permanent training facility it’s fair to expect Kroenke to follow Jones’ lead and attempt to create a facility that also generates revenue. Don’t be surprised if Kroenke tries to involve the Olympic committee as a way to help offset costs and potentially share a larger venue as well.
It’s unlikely the Rams will have that training facility complete before 2018, and it could potentially carry into 2019 when they open the Inglewood stadium depending on its scope. They’re still seeking the land, but it’s a good bet it will be somewhere in the Calabasas/Westlake Village area or thereabouts.
Before Jones’ latest venture, the most common way to make money off a practice facility was to sell the naming rights. But now that Jones is expanding that model, look for others to follow suit, with Kroenke at the head of the line.
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