Presentation: Moving an NFL team to Los Angelas

Welcome to the Kick is Good! blog. My name is Paul James, the writer and managing editor. This is our first video blog. We hope you enjoy our presentation. The season is just 7 weeks away. Training camp is opening up this week. Preseason games are start in about 2 weeks from now. It's an exciting time to talk football. But today's "Vlog" is centered around a league issue that I believe should be talked about in NFL circles. I propose the league move a team to the Los Angeles market. If you have been following the blog over the past couple of weeks you might have noticed my elevator pitches on the topic. Allow me to further explain why I think this idea will help the game.

 The NFL is all about making a "buck". This is a made for television sport. It's a much watch every sunday in the fall. Local bars are packed, people host house parties, pizza and wing places are busy all day with orders. This lasts the whole day because you have 1pm games, 4:15pm games and a Sunday night game. The baseball, hockey and basketball seasons can't compare to the NFL ratings wise. It's not because their product is not any better, it is because their season is so long. Hockey and Basketball are 82 games over a seven month span. Baseball is 162 games over a 6 month span. When viewers are provided with the same content almost every single day of the week they will be more inclined to "skip" a game because they can just watch it tomorrow. Also the sting of a loss does not hurt as bad because their is a game the next day. That's not the case for the NFL. Every game is a big game because their is only 16 of them. A win in week 1 is as important as one in week 15. Hence why these games become must watch. They provide so much drama. Drama equals television ratings.

LA is the second largest media market in the country. I think the NFL has been foolish for not having a franchise in this market since the Rams left in the mid 90s. The league has tried to create a presence in there placing NFL network in culver city, but that fails in comparison to having an NFL team in town. From a television standpoint, putting a team in LA is a fantastic idea. It will produce more eyes watching the games on CBS, FOX, and NBC in the second largest market, because their would be a local game in town.

Some have argued that LA is not a great sports town. I disagree. I think its a bad sports town if a team is non-competitive. Prices of tickets are expensive. If a team plays in a large market they are going to charge more for tickets to the game. If the team is not playing well people are not going to spend money to come to the game. I know the Dodgers and Angels have suffered through this in recent years. But when the Lakers are playing well (and now the clippers), fans flock to the staples center. When USC football was in its hay day in the mid 2000's their stadium was packed and ABC was showing their games nationally ever Saturday night. This shows me that the Los Angeles market can support an NFL team, especially if it is an established winner.

Now the question becomes, how does a team get to LA? One thought is expansion. I am not in favor of this idea. Right now the league has 32 teams. It's a perfect number for conference structure (4 divisions of 4 teams each). Adding another team ruins this balance and makes scheduling along with division alignment a nightmare. Plus, expansion teams take time to develop talent. The Texans and Browns were the last two expansion teams. It took the Texans over a decade to finally become competitive and the Browns are still trying to win over 8 games a season. Expansion also dilutes the talent pool around the league since you would need more players. The NBA deals with this problem all the time and why they have discussed contracting several teams to make the sport more competitive.

My plan is to move an existing franchise into the Los Angeles area. I would start by looking at small market teams that have difficulty selling out their building for home games. The Jacksonville Jaguars are the first team that come to mind. They struggle to draw fans and their games are constantly blacked out locally since they don't sell out. Jacksonville is not a great pro sports town. It's a southern city which makes it a possible destination for a Super Bowl, but the league already did that once in 2004 and the reviews of the city were not positive. They are one team I would consider moving.

The Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings are two other teams i'd be interested in relocating. Both have old stadiums. The Vikings are struggling to get a new stadium built in Minnesota. Both teams have decent roster talent  (the Vikings made the playoffs last season). But the fan base in these cities are so passionate about their teams. Lets face it, their is not much to do in Buffalo NY and Minneapolis in December and January. Football provides entertainment for people in these regions. Even when these teams are bad (the Bills have not made the playoffs since 1999) they still sell out their building. I would rather leave these two teams in their markets.

Finally we come to the St. Louis Rams, a franchise that previously played in Los Angeles and left after the 1994 season because their stadium lease expired. Five years later they won a Super Bowl in St. Louis. The team was successful in the early 2000's and was able to fill its building. But since 2003-2004 the team has struggled to be a consistently good. Normally they are picking at the top of the draft. The positive about picking high is that you accumulate good players. I think the Rams have a good foundation of young athletic players, starting with Quarterback Sam Bradford and defensive players Chris Long and James Laurinitis. They also have a head coach in Jeff Fisher who is a proven winner and can coach in the big game. This team is on the rise. It's unfortunate that they play in a division with the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks, otherwise I think they could threaten for a Wildcard spot in a competitive NFC. In two years from now the Rams could be a top team in the conference and an exciting watch for a new fan base.

Ironically, two years from now is when their stadium lease expires. Recently the team was denied $700 million dollars by the CVC to make advances to the Edward Jones Dome. When the Rams first signed a contract with the city of St. Louis on a stadium deal for 30 years, part of the agreement stated that their stadium remain in the top 25 percent of the league. Denying money for repairs takes the dome out of this percentile and allows the Rams to break their lease in 2014.

Stan Kronke, the teams owner and real estate tycoon, would not be apposed to moving the team to LA. Ultimately, the Rams to LA are a great fit. They already play in the NFC West division. Moving to LA makes sense because they could stay in that division. It would not affect the current structure of division and conferences like moving a team such as Jacksonville would. It also makes sense for travel purposes. Currently the Rams are located in the central time zone, which means most of their home games are played at the 1pm time slot. But, most of their away games are played in the 4pm time slot since Arizona, Seattle, and San Francisco are all west coast based teams. Moving to LA would mean all four teams would play in the same timezone, making start times consistent for players and fans.

More importantly, the Rams have a history in LA. Returning them back home would re-ignite the LA Ram fan base and spark a new interest in younger fans. If the team is competitive, they will play in nationally televised games and gain greater exposure to the country. The Rams hardly ever get a Sunday or Monday night national game in St. Louis. Advertising revenue from a new stadium in LA would help the team financially. Playing in a big market might attract some big name free agents. A lot of players live in California in the offseason so playing in LA would be convenient. And a new stadium in the market means a Super Bowl could be played their. Who knows? Perhaps it could be the Rams that play the first Super Bowl in their home stadium?

I've laid out how moving the an NFL Franchise back to Los Angeles is both economically smart for the league and a team. I think the St. Louis Rams are the team to move. Please understand that I am a fan just like all of you. I hate the idea of moving a team out of a city where there already is a fan base. I am not try to hate on the city of St. Louis. It is a great sports town, as evident by the Cardinals fan base. I just think the league and Los Angeles need the Rams.

Thanks for checking out our first video blog. Check back weekly for new posts consisting of news and notes about the National Football League. Enjoy the start of training camp and we will see you next time on The Kick is Good Blog!