Rams Still Weighing Three Sites : Football: Shaw says St. Louis, Baltimore and Anaheim remain in the running for team.
St. Louis continues to gain momentum in its bid for the Rams, and an improved Orange County offer is still being considered, but team President John Shaw Thursday discounted reports that Baltimore has fallen out of running.
Asked if the Rams had narrowed their choices to St. Louis and Anaheim, Shaw said, “Absolutely not. I don’t know where those perceptions came from. We really haven’t had any conversations with St. Louis for a few weeks. They’re trying to come in next week, but I’m not sure whether (those meetings) will materialize.”
A series of circumstances, including Wednesday’s vote among NFL owners to approve the Washington Redskins’ proposed move to Laurel, Md., about 20 miles south of Baltimore, seemed to swing the Rams’ pendulum toward St. Louis.
The main reason: St. Louis offers the path of least resistance.
With the Redskins hoping to corner the Washington and Baltimore markets with a new 78,600-seat stadium in Laurel, many believe Washington owner Jack Kent Cooke will rally enough support to block Baltimore’s attempts to land a franchise.
If at least eight of the league’s 30 owners vote against such a move, a team would have to sue the NFL--as the Raiders did after their 1982 move from Oakland to Los Angeles was not approved by the league--to relocate to Baltimore.
Ram owner Georgia Frontiere has admitted a strong distaste for protracted litigation, but it is believed a move to St. Louis would readily be approved by NFL owners--thus sparing Frontiere a seat on the witness stand.
“I do think (the Laurel vote) enhances our chances,” said Mac Scott, director of communications for the St. Louis County Executive’s office. “The Redskins are apparently well connected in the NFL, and you’d have to think they’d encourage other teams to vote against a move to Baltimore.
“If Baltimore is not an option, you’re down to staying in Anaheim or coming to St. Louis. We already know we have a better lease and stadium than Anaheim, and despite what the Baltimore contingent believes, we have a solid and enthusiastic fan base.”
NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said the Laurel resolution does not bar Baltimore from getting a team, though, and Shaw said it didn’t make Baltimore a less attractive alternative.
“I don’t think it changes Baltimore’s status one way or another,” said Shaw, who attended the NFL owners meetings in Irving, Tex., this week. “I know when we’ve contemplated Baltimore, it’s always been looked at with the possibility of having a team in Laurel.”
Supporters of Baltimore’s NFL efforts have maintained Baltimore and Washington are two distinct markets, and that even if the Redskins moved to Laurel, they would not impact a team in Baltimore.
“Will (a team in Laurel) be a problem for us? No, I don’t really think so,” said novelist Tom Clancy, who has joined Baltimore Oriole owner Peter Angelos in an attempt to purchase an NFL team. “Sooner or later, one way or another, there will be an NFL football team in Baltimore.
“It’s hard to imagine the NFL would actively prevent a team’s establishment in Baltimore,” Clancy said. “Their track record on doing such things is bleak, and even if it was better, it just wouldn’t be a smart thing to do.”
Meanwhile, the Orange County task force working to keep the Rams in Southern California has the simple solution for avoiding such legal hassles: Stay in Anaheim.
The group recently made an enhanced offer to the Rams, which includes a $60-million to $70-million renovation of Anaheim Stadium, a $12-million practice facility, and ticket and luxury box sales guarantees.
