Informative and fascinating story about the economic advantages for St. Louis, in not keeping the Rams there. When they moved back to LA, (which they did this season) St Louis and its people saved a ton of money that it really didn't have. This article explains that. (and it explains that the move a year ago was about building a new stadium with public money which is what the owner demanded.) St. Louis and Missouri tried to meet those demands, but the owner moved anyway, because it seemed that LA was a much better market than St. Louis.. This article exposes the true nature of sports finances and team moves. Yes, this is a year old, but with the announcement of the San Diego Chargers moving to LA, it explains motives and backgrounds for such moves. And these moves are not about fan loyalty of the city involved.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/16/sports/football/st-louis-should-be-glad-it-lost-the-rams.html?_r=0
New York Times,
Sports Business
By JOE NOCERA JAN. 15, 2016
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Don’t cry for St. Louis, sports fans.
The departure of the Rams to Los Angeles, whence they came two decades ago, is something for the city’s residents to cheer, not bemoan. St. Louis got lucky.
Sure, fans of professional football in St. Louis are going to miss the Rams. Though they have been bad in recent years, they had some great seasons in St. Louis. From 1998 to 2003, Kurt Warner — one of the greatest undrafted players in N.F.L. history — set the city on its ear, winning two Most Valuable Player Awards as the Rams’ quarterback and leading the team to a Super Bowl victory after the 1999 season.
But the economics underpinning the recent deal St. Louis and the State of Missouri tried to put together to keep the Rams would have been financially ruinous. Let’s not be coy about this: St. Louis, a city of fewer than 320,000 people, with a shrinking tax base, simply couldn’t afford to help finance the $1 billion stadium that the Rams’ billionaire owner, E. Stanley Kroenke, was seeking. Its mistake was in trying.