Recent Forum Topics › Forums › The Rams Huddle › new facility
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November 14, 2023 at 10:13 pm #146775znModerator
Rams COO Kevin Demoff: Team will move practice headquarters to Woodland Hills, Calif. ahead of the 2024 season: https://t.co/iQZkyZoTcL
— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) November 15, 2023
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These renderings reflect the new – though temporary while full-time facilities are in construction – facilities that will be built on the Rams’ overall Woodland Hills site. Comments from org leaders commencing shortly! https://t.co/5teKdn8rKn
— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) November 14, 2023
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Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
To reiterate for clarity – a new temporary facility, football ops + fields will move to Woodland Hills ahead of 2024 as a new permanent faculty is being constructed on the overall 100 acre land buyCurrently a 3-5 year optimistic projection from Demoff, pending city, on the full-scale build. Team will also explore partnerships (many other sites partnered w medical/sports science facilities – in consideration here.) “We are open for business,” he says.
“The grass is already being grown,” says COO Kevin Demoff of the natural grass playing fields the Rams will install at the new/temporary facilities. Hope is to get transitioned by offseason programming but team won’t hold training camp here in the short term.
Sarah Barshop@sarahbarshopKevin Demoff said the Rams would love to have the temporary practice facility built in Woodland Hills before the start of the offseason program, but the “drop-dead date” is to make the move before the team returns from training camp in Irvine.November 14, 2023 at 10:24 pm #146776znModeratorMore on the Rams moving their practice headquarters to Woodland Hills ahead of the 2024 NFL season, including a timeline for the move, what it means for training camp and other details from COO Kevin Demoff:https://t.co/nTHS2s1AD7
— Stu Jackson (@StuJRams) November 15, 2023
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[link above]
Rams COO Kevin Demoff on timeline for moving practice facility to Woodland Hills ahead of 2024 NFL season, what it means for training camp
Stu Jackson
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – When the Rams begin preparing for their 2024 regular season opponents, they will be doing so with their practice facility in a new location.
The franchise on Tuesday announced it would be moving its practice headquarters to Woodland Hills ahead of the 2024 season, with construction work beginning later this week.
“It is nice (to be able to officially make the announcement,” Rams Chief Operating Officer Kevin Demoff said after a celebratory ceremony held at the Topanga Village indoor-outdoor mall, which will be adjacent to the team’s Woodland Hills site. “You heard all these whispers, people in Woodland Hills saying, ‘Oh, I hear the Rams might be coming, who’s buying the Promenade?’ And then it’s, oh, the Anthem building is for sale and maybe you’re buying that, and then we were able to buy the Village. So it is nice to be able to stand up here and say we’re officially coming in 2024, that we do own these 100 acres.”
Demoff said the organization would love to have the temporary practice facility at the Woodland Hills site built by the time the offseason program starts, with the drop-dead date for that move being when the team returns from training camp.
In terms of that temporary setup, Demoff said they’re not going to move anything “except the people,” meaning that rather than move the temporary buildings from Thousand Oaks down the road to Woodland Hills, the Rams will be taking new temporary buildings and assembling something similar to what they currently have at California Lutheran University. According to the press release, that the temporary setup will include “modular trailers that will include office space and meeting rooms for coaches, players, scouts and staff, a weight room and training room, locker room, media room, and meal room,” with two practice fields adjacent to those trailers.
Grass for the practice fields is in the process of being grown.
“We’re gonna go build that new on one side of the practice fields,” Demoff said. “The grass fields we put in will be permanent, so those will be where the permanent fields will go. We’re going to put the temporary facility on the west side of the fields, and ultimately the plan is to build a permanent facility on the north side of the fields, so that way we’ll be able to be at the practice facility while we go build a new permanent facility. Otherwise, it just seemed like there was no reason to announce you were coming to Woodland Hills and actually moving to Woodland Hills.”
Demoff added that the goal is to move the organization’s Agoura Hills business office somewhere in Warner Center in the “near future,” and then combine the football and business offices when the new permanent facility opens for training camp.
When the business and football sides become located closer to one another, Demoff said it will able to give the business side more opportunity to interact with leaders on the football side.
“I think it will be a great experience for them,” Demoff said. “When you sign up to join a sports team, you want to feel and be part of the team, and we haven’t had that point of connection except on gamedays, except at training camp. It will be amazing for our staff, and I think certainly for all of us to be in one place, to have that truly be the heartbeat (of the organization).”
When it comes to training camp plans, Demoff said as of right now camp will not be headquartered in Woodland Hills.
“Our vision has always been, and not just because it would be a little hot to hold training camp here in Woodland Hills, but we’ve always liked the idea of going away a little bit for training camp,” Demoff said. “UC Irvine’s been a great partner. We’ve looked in and around other places within Southern California. When we started at UC Irvine, it was always with the idea of being in Orange County, with the idea to move it, so we’re going to explore that moving forward, but it is not our current plan to hold training camp here. That could change at some point, but we would probably need an indoor facility, or certainly some shade, to make that happen.”
An indoor facility is “certainly one of the things we’re looking at on the map,” according to Demoff.
“The truth is, in California, you don’t need an indoor facility, but it would always be great to build one,” Demoff said. “If we built an indoor facility, you’d be looking at, how could you use it for community uses as well? Do you do something like The Star (the Cowboys’ facility in Frisco, Texas) where you’re playing high school games or other events in it? Are you using it just for a practice facility? Those are all things that we’re really working to look at now. No promises, but (head coach) Sean (McVay) has always wanted an indoor practice facility. But getting out of the wind I know is the first step for him. I know he’s excited about that.”
November 15, 2023 at 8:46 pm #146787InvaderRamModerator“The grass is already being grown,” says COO Kevin Demoff of the natural grass playing fields the Rams will install at the new/temporary facilities. Hope is to get transitioned by offseason programming but team won’t hold training camp here in the short term.
would it be that much harder or more expensive to just have grass fields in sofi stadium?
November 16, 2023 at 10:14 am #146790ZooeyModerator“The grass is already being grown,” says COO Kevin Demoff of the natural grass playing fields the Rams will install at the new/temporary facilities. Hope is to get transitioned by offseason programming but team won’t hold training camp here in the short term.
would it be that much harder or more expensive to just have grass fields in sofi stadium?
I’ve been wondering that from the start. It CAN be done. the question really is “Is it cost effective?” The intention is to use sofi for all kinds of events, including concerts and probably monster truck thingies etc. Stuff that lawns won’t be compatible with. So the grass would have to be interchangeable with other “flooring,” and where are you going to put a football field when it’s not in the stadium?
November 16, 2023 at 11:05 pm #146809InvaderRamModeratorSo the grass would have to be interchangeable with other “flooring,” and where are you going to put a football field when it’s not in the stadium?
real madrid actually have a solution for that. a retractable grass field at the santiago bernabeu. ridiculous and insane. but cool to watch.
November 17, 2023 at 7:01 am #146810znModeratorfrom Reddit
The already hosted events year round by placing plywood over the pitch. But the turnaround time was long because the grass needed several days of good weather to recover. With the added roof, grass wasn’t going to grow anyway.
This allows them to have the pitch in perfect growing conditions under lights while an event happens and they can still host a Real Madrid match the following day.
Arizona moves the entire pitch outside in one piece to get sunlight.
Totennham breaks up their pitch into 3 pieces and moves it below the car park. They have a turf field below the moving pitch for american football and other events.
Stacking the pitch below the grounds is next level. Can’t wait for the full engineering documentary to came out.
November 17, 2023 at 9:28 am #146811Billy_TParticipantTo me, it’s close to a life or death thing. Keep the turf, kill the players. Yeah, it’s over time. It’s not immediate. But ball-carriers, especially, take two hits at least: from other players and then the turf. I cringe each time I see them hit the concrete.
Grass should be mandatory across the league, on every field. No exceptions.
November 17, 2023 at 9:39 am #146812Billy_TParticipantBTW, has anyone ever done any studies per position? Just eye-balling it, wide-receivers seem to hit their heads on the turf any time they extend themselves for a catch. Oftentimes, on regular catches too. Running backs probably take the most initial shots to the head. And linemen knock heads play after play. So, just not sure. DBs probably tackle head first more than any other spot on the team, etc.
Anyway, they pretty much all end up making contact with the ground (and each other) in bad ways. I wish there were a way to solve this, without bubble-wrapping the game . . .
November 17, 2023 at 9:43 am #146813InvaderRamModeratorTotennham breaks up their pitch into 3 pieces and moves it below the car park. They have a turf field below the moving pitch for american football and other events.
yeah. tottenham has a system too. both i think would work in sofi. arizona cardinals’ system wouldn’t.
one problem. i think it cost real madrid one billion dollars to install their system. not sure about tottenham.
November 17, 2023 at 9:49 am #146815znModeratori think it cost real madrid one billion dollars to install their system.
Yes, it did
November 17, 2023 at 9:51 am #146816znModeratorBTW, has anyone ever done any studies per position? Just eye-balling it, wide-receivers seem to hit their heads on the turf any time they extend themselves for a catch. Oftentimes, on regular catches too. Running backs probably take the most initial shots to the head. And linemen knock heads play after play. So, just not sure. DBs probably tackle head first more than any other spot on the team, etc. Anyway, they pretty much all end up making contact with the ground (and each other) in bad ways. I wish there were a way to solve this, without bubble-wrapping the game . . .
And it’s knees and soft tissue getting roughed up just from playing on that surface, ie. planting on it and exerting…it’s basically playing on concrete.
November 17, 2023 at 9:56 am #146817Billy_TParticipantBTW, has anyone ever done any studies per position? Just eye-balling it, wide-receivers seem to hit their heads on the turf any time they extend themselves for a catch. Oftentimes, on regular catches too. Running backs probably take the most initial shots to the head. And linemen knock heads play after play. So, just not sure. DBs probably tackle head first more than any other spot on the team, etc. Anyway, they pretty much all end up making contact with the ground (and each other) in bad ways. I wish there were a way to solve this, without bubble-wrapping the game . . .
And it’s knees and soft tissue getting roughed up just from playing on that surface, ie. planting on it and exerting…it’s basically playing on concrete.
Agreed. Horrible on the knees, ankles, and everywhere you mentioned. Shoulders, etc. Everything.
Wasn’t OBJ’s injury in the Super Bowl turf-dependent? If memory serves, it likely wouldn’t have happened on grass.
November 17, 2023 at 7:44 pm #146823InvaderRamModeratorwell i too am in favor of installing a grass system in sofi. the tottenham retractable pitch only cost 30 million dollars. mainly because it slides out much like the cardinals’ do theirs. but it’s underground. to the north and to the east of sofi it’s all just parking lots. i’m not an engineer but i wonder if you could just dig up the parking lot and build an underground greenhouse and move the field there. you’d have grow lights underground to give the field adequate light. and then slide it back during game time.
i don’t know. i just don’t want to see players unnecessarily injured or have their careers shortened due to wear and tear of playing on the turf. one billion is excessive, but thirty million doesn’t seem like too much given how much money this stadium generates. not just from two football teams but all the concerts that are held there.
- This reply was modified 12 months ago by InvaderRam.
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