Georgia never liked the Kneel Down.
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http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-03-16/sports/9503160267_1_rams-owner-georgia-frontiere-vice-president-john-shaw-rams-from-los-angeles
Next Move In Court
Nfl Rejects Rams’ St. Louis Transfer
March 16, 1995|
By Don Pierson, Tribune Pro Football Writer.
PHOENIX — National Football League owners voted down the proposed move of the Rams from Los Angeles to St. Louis on Wednesday, but the door to further negotiation still appears as open as the arch.
Rams owner Georgia Frontiere called it an “arbitrary and capricious” decision by a “kangaroo court” and laid groundwork for antitrust action in the kind of court that is painfully familiar to fellow owners who failed to prevent Al Davis from moving the Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles in 1982.
“We’re exploring every option. I have complete resolve to move,” she said.
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue conceded the case is not closed, calling the vote he recommended applicable “at least for this week.” He said he “expected” the Rams would play in Anaheim again this year, but admitted he had no assurance that they wouldn’t hire moving vans and sneak out of town the way Robert Irsay did without a vote in 1984 when he left Baltimore for Indianapolis. But the league believes its guidelines governing franchise movement established since 1984 will stand up in court this time.
Frontiere urged St. Louis fans to “keep the faith.” They have purchased 74,000 “seat licenses” just for the right to buy tickets, many more than the city’s new dome can handle. Frontiere said she knew of no deadline for moving to play there this season, and with a slip of the tongue, said: “I’m afraid we’ll have to wait to see what the court decides.”
Both Frontiere and Rams vice president John Shaw said they would play in Anaheim this year if necessary, Shaw calling it “distinctly a possibility.”
By a vote of 21-3 with six abstentions, owners said the Rams did not meet the league criteria for moving, including sustained revenue losses. But the issue is far more complex than any list of do’s and don’ts.
For starters, the league offered the Rams three ways to buy their way into a go-vote regardless of guideline violations: 1. share a portion of the more than $60 million in “personal seat licenses” sold to St. Louis fans; 2. “deal” with the question of rights fees rebates to the Fox network; 3. contribute to a trust fund that would help build a stadium for an NFC team in Southern California.
The Rams made what Frontiere called a “substantial” offer to owners, believed to be $26 million, but were blindsided by the last two demands, which might have reached “tens of millions,” according to a source.
Shaw accused the league of planting the idea of rebates in a letter to Fox and called the trust fund for a Southern California stadium “arbitrary.” League spokesman Joe Browne called Shaw’s accusation of a plant “ridiculous.”
Tagliabue called the discussion and vote a “soul-searching” process of “how to balance the interests of two groups of fans.” Clearly, keeping an NFC team in the country’s second-largest market won out over the enthusiasm of St. Louis fans in the 20th market.
The Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Cincinnati Bengals were the only yes votes, and the ownership of the Bucs and Bengals have pushed for new stadiums. The six teams that abstained were the Raiders, Seahawks, Chargers, Colts, Saints, and Falcons.
Bears chairman Ed McCaskey voted against the move, saying: “The sanctity of the constitution and bylaws has been maintained.”
Frontiere said she reminded fellow owners that Bill Bidwill’s move of the Cardinals out of St. Louis to Phoenix in 1988 was approved “very easily.”
“He was a very lucky man,” she said.
“If Busch Stadium were a clone of Anaheim , I’d still be in St. Louis,” Bidwill said.
Shaw said he felt “extremely” confident the Rams could win a lawsuit, an option the Missouri attorney general’s office already has threatened.
Player agent Leigh Steinberg, chairman of the “Save the Rams” group in Anaheim, called the vote “wonderful” and invited Frontiere back with the promise to work on a new stadium or suggest 11 different groups happy to buy the team.
Frontiere said she would “never” sell and the enthusiasm of Southern California over the Rams was demonstrated by the absence of any television cameras from Los Angeles at these NFL meetings.
Abandoned by the Cardinals and jilted by expansion, St. Louis was left with only this promise from Frontiere: “I never liked the quarterback kneel at the end of a game. I’m not doing the quarterback kneel. The clock is still ticking.”
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http://articles.chicagotribune.com/keyword/georgia-frontiere
Rams Say They’re Moving
Frontiere Gives Ok
Club Hopes To Wrap Up St. Louis Deal Soon
January 16, 1995
Los Angeles Rams owner Georgia Frontiere and other team officials plan to complete a deal over the next two days to move the franchise to St. Louis.
Team President John Shaw was among a Rams contingent that arrived Sunday night in St. Louis to finalize details for the move, Rams spokesman Rick Smith said. Frontiere was to arrive later in the week.
FANS Inc., the St. Louis group courting the Rams, plans a news conference Tuesday to formally announce the switch, which must then be approved by NFL owners.
“I’m on my way,” Frontiere told the Los Angeles Times. “I have to give my approval. I have no other choice.”
The Rams, who projected a loss of some $6 million in Anaheim in 1994, have been offered a new stadium and practice facility and a potential profit of more than $20 million a year in St. Louis. That would make the franchise the most profitable in the NFL.
Part of the agreement is an unprecedented guarantee that at least 85 percent of luxury boxes and club seats will be sold for the next 15 years, accounting for at least $10 million annually for the team. The deal also will provide $30 million to pay off what the Rams owe the City of Anaheim.
The Rams have played in Southern California for 49 years since coming west from Cleveland. They were the first major-league team to move to the West Coast.
“I feel a little numb,” Frontiere told the Times. “It’s so wonderful and the future looks so bright, but I’m also sad that things were not able to work out here.”
Frontiere said she didn’t know what to say to Rams fans about taking the team to Missouri.
“How can you say anything?” Frontiere said. “You’re taking something away from somebody and they’re not going to be happy. I don’t think anyone will ever know how much I fought not to have this happen.”
