The decision to send the Rams, and potentially the Chargers, to L.A. "represented a tectonic shift within an intensely political league that runs the nation’s most popular sport and a multibillion-dollar business," according to Ken Belson of the N.Y. TIMES. Tuesday's vote "exposed a divide between some of the longest-serving owners and many of the newer ones who have paid hundreds of millions of dollars" to join the league. The former's role and "ultimate defeat in the battle to return to Los Angeles will come to symbolize a changing of the guard that may have a lasting impact on how the league operates." For months, the joint Chargers-Raiders proposal in Carson "had the implicit backing of owners" like Dan Rooney, John Mara and Jerry Richardson, "who have been part of the league for generations." They "supported the Carson project in part because of their loyalty" to Chargers Chair Dean Spanos, but they "have also been around long enough to remember the trauma of the Colts, the Browns and other teams moving, and they wanted to minimize the disruption this time." However, about a dozen owners "bought their teams in the years after the last team, the Oilers, moved to Tennessee" in '97. To some of them, moving the Rams from St. Louis to L.A. "was a financial no-brainer, even if it alienated many fans." Committee recommendations "often sway the full ownership, but not Tuesday." Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones and the other Inglewood supporters "pushed for a secret ballot," which allowed owners who had expressed support for the Carson stadium "to cross the aisle without having to publicly declare their preference." One owner said that the vote "amounted to a rebellion against the backers of the Carson plan." Belson notes following the vote, Jones, Rams Owner Stan Kroenke and Bills Owner Terry Pegula "dined together at Vallone’s, an upscale steakhouse" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/14).
CULTURE CHANGE AMONG OWNERS: ESPN’s Jim Trotter said the NFL choosing Inglewood over Carson "represents a culture change in the NFL in terms of how owners interact with each other." Going back to the eras of the league under former NFL Commissioners Paul Tagliabue and Pete Rozelle, if owners "had disagreements or whatnot, there would be a managed outcome and you would try and make everyone happy." Trotter: "Here, owners were pitted against owners." He added the fact NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league would leave Spanos "twisting in the wind with two options, neither of which he wants or likes -- that’s a tough spot for him.” ESPN's Bill Polian, referencing the Chargers and Raiders, said, "This is the first time in my memory that two franchises have been left in limbo like this" ("NFL Insiders," ESPN, 1/13).
STADIUM POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS: ESPN's Dan Le Batard said the NFL made the "right decision" to pick the Inglewood proposal over Carson. He said, "The NFL wants a West Coast branch, wants a headquarters in Los Angeles.” The league will be able to stage various events at the new stadium “in one of the largest markets." Le Batard: "America’s most popular sport needs that customer base, needs that many people, and this is a different time in Los Angeles then it was when the Rams were last in attendance out there in the mid-'90s” ("Highly Questionable," ESPN, 1/13). ESPN's Polian noted the league now has a "modern home for the NFL Network and a little more visibility for it with a team there” ("NFL Insiders," ESPN, 1/13). ESPN's Michael Wilbon said the Inglewood stadium is "going to make 'Jerry World' look like a two-story high-rise" ("PTI," ESPN, 1/13).
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY: USA TODAY's Martin Rogers writes the NFL has returned to L.A. because the city "is big, bad, money-hungry and uncompromising, just how people like it." Rogers: "Given the amount of cash to be generated by repopulating the nation's second-largest city and media heavyweight with at least one team, well, you $ee the pi¢ture" (USA TODAY, 1/14). In Toronto, Doug Smith wrote the decision is "at least an indication that the billionaires in the owners box will take care of themselves first and foremost." Smith: "They live to make money with each other and for each other and if you have to dump all over some fans in one city to make more cash in another, well, that’s how it’s going to be" (THESTAR.com, 1/13). In Chicago, Rick Morrisey writes there is "no one to like in the whole greasy affair." Not Kroenke, who "turned out bad football teams, turned up his nose at public funding for a new stadium in St. Louis and, bitterness flowing, turned on the city on his way out." And not the NFL, which "will abandon cities and fans in a second for a better deal" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 1/14).
