NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Friday, while "expressing a general league-wide desire to keep franchises in their current markets, and deeming the St. Louis stadium effort a positive development ... also issued a vague warning about the Rams’ ability to meet relocation guidelines," according to a front-page piece by Jim Thomas of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. Goodell at his State of the League address said, "We want all of our franchises to stay in their current markets. That’s a shared responsibility; that’s something that we all have to work on." Goodell added that the business community -- "as well as the public sector -- needed to be engaged in a stadium-building project to make sure a plan works for both the community and the team." When asked about Rams Owner Stan Kroenke’s "seeming lack of direct engagement in the St. Louis project, and whether that constituted a failure to meet the league’s relocation guidelines, Goodell didn’t exactly give the answer that St. Louis wanted." He said, "Stan has been working on the stadium issues in St. Louis, as you know, for several years. They had a formal (arbitration) process as part of their lease. They went through that entire process. So I don’t think the stadium is a surprise to anybody, in any market that is having these issues. There’s been quite a bit of discussion about it." Goodell "did emphasize the importance of following relocation guidelines for any team wanting to move" to L.A. As far as the league "is concerned, going rogue and moving without league approval is not an option" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 1/31).
MORE WORK TO DO: NFL Exec VP/Business Ventures Eric Grubman said that there "has been movement on the St. Louis stadium front since he last visited the city two weeks ago." Grubman: "We talked about sort of a multi-point plan of things we’re working on together -- that we need to get back to. When we spoke, it was our intention to get those scheduled.” Grubman said that former Anheuser-Busch President David Peacock, who was appointed as a stadium planner in November, "was in Phoenix on Friday ... but Grubman said he had no formal meeting planned with Peacock" over the weekend. Grubman "once again stressed the importance that the league places on its relocation guidelines." He said he was “very satisfied” that Kroenke had met that standard of keeping the league informed. Grubman also "maintained that both he and the league office were maintaining neutrality in the process." He said there was no “happiness factor” one way or the other. Grubman: "I don’t know what anybody’s plans are. I don’t know what anyone is gonna propose until they propose it. Our job is to enhance the chances of putting something together in each of the markets. So there’s no conflict for me" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 1/31). Pro Football HOFer Marshall Faulk on Friday said that he is “disappointed that the powers to be in the city of St. Louis waited until now to make a proposal” for a new stadium. Faulk: “If I was (Kroenke), I'd be just as upset. Why do you wait so long? And now we're looking at this man like 'Oh please don't take your team.' It's a business. That's how the Rams got there” (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 1/31).
HEARD, BUT NOT SEEN: In L.A., Vincent Bonsignore wrote it is "typical when the reigning NFL commissioner delivers his state of the league address ahead of the Super Bowl for most of the league’s 32 owners to be in attendance." But on Friday, Kroenke, Raiders Owner Mark Davis and Chargers Chair & President Dean Spanos "were nowhere to be found." L.A. "has become such a hot topic ... it makes sense all three likely wanted to avoid the hassle of dealing with the 200 or so reporters covering Goodell’s speech." While Kroenke "was nowhere to be found Friday when Goodell gave his annual speech, don’t think for a second his presence wasn’t felt" from the Mississippi River to L.A. A source said that Kroenke "has covertly begun the process of collating support from fellow owners should he actually decide to move" the Rams to L.A. Kroenke "understands he can’t do it alone," so he is "taking steps to help ensure he gets what he needs." Whether he gets it "remains to be seen" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 1/31).
MEN OF TROY: USC AD Pat Haden said the school would “very much like” to have an NFL team play at the L.A. Coliseum. He added that the school's lease "allows us to have a temporary lessee, if you will, in the NFL." Haden: “We are in the process of … re-energizing the Coliseum as it is, and maybe an NFL team might help us finance some of those renovations.” Haden added there has been "no contact with any NFL teams about that possibility from his office, but USC officials have spoken with teams.” Haden said of the content of those discussions, “I don’t know. We know they’re not coming here next year. But for us, it doesn’t really make much difference whether they come in 2015 or 2016 in terms of the renovation of the Coliseum” (KNBC-TV, 2/2).
