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L.A. no easy score for Rams

Winning will be a necessity, industry execs say

Los Angeles was built in large part on the notion of fleeting fame. And the newly relocated Los Angeles Rams are likely facing a short honeymoon in the return to their prior home because of it.

As the sports business community convened last week in downtown Los Angeles for the CAA World Congress of Sports, the Rams’ move from St. Louis, complete with a planned $2.6 billion stadium complex in suburban Inglewood, Calif., was widely championed as a market-shifting event. But executives warned that the Rams must quickly improve from their current run of 11 straight seasons without making the playoffs to have any hope for long-term business success.

“People have to believe you can compete for the championship in this town, because there’s always something else to do,” said Luc Robitaille, Los Angeles Kings president of business operations. “We see it in basketball, we see it in every event. You’ve got to put the best product out there. Over time [the Rams] have to do that for sure.”

The Rams’ re-establishment in their home market from 1946-94 received a double dose of sizzle last week with a blockbuster trade with the Tennessee Titans for the first overall pick in the draft at the end of the month, as well as the release of 2016 NFL schedules.

For veteran industry executives, though, the memory of empty seats for Rams games, particularly in the final years at the then-Anaheim Stadium, remains very present.

“We don’t like anything that’s not first place,” said veteran Hollywood producer and Seattle Sounders FC minority owner Joe Roth. “This is the most fickle fan base ever designed.”

Kevin Demoff, Rams executive vice president of football operations and chief operating officer, acknowledged the team’s tall task in breaking through in the crowded Los Angeles market.

“I think the focus is always, as it should be in any city, you have to win,” Demoff said. “L.A. may be the epitome of that. There are nine professional teams, two major universities and a lot of entertainment dollars. But for us, and for [owner] Stan [Kroenke], the focus is to build a winning team, and success will follow that.”

Initial metrics from the Rams’ move suggest robust fan support for the team, including more than 57,000 deposits in hand to purchase season tickets. The Rams also will be featured this summer on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.”

But the club’s own success on traditional terms is only part of the equation, panelists at the conference said. Fellow NFL team owner Clark Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs said the planned stadium complex, which will include a campus likely to house many NFL media operations, will be “the greatest sports palace that’s ever been built.”

There’s always something to do in Los Angeles. Last week it was Kobe Bryant’s final game.
Photo by: NBAE / GETTY IMAGES
“I think it’s going to be larger than AT&T Stadium in Dallas, which is the biggest NFL stadium right now, and it will include a campus,” Hunt said. “Perhaps the NFL Network is going to relocate to that campus. There will be a lot of development — hotels, bars, restaurants, apartments — so it’s really going to be an experience. That’s going to be an asset to the entire league.”

Future Super Bowls are also likely at the new Rams stadium.

“If you think about Super Bowls, and certainly L.A. historically has had some important Super Bowls, you could see the league bringing a number of those games there,” Hunt said.

And, of course, media partners are salivating at the notion of bringing back Los Angeles as a home market for NFL broadcasts.

“We’re all excited. It’s football in L.A.,” said Jamie Horowitz, Fox Sports National Networks president. “As the NFC rights holder, it’s amazing.”

The NFL’s primary beer sponsor, Anheuser-Busch, had a slightly more conflicted view. On one level, the Rams have left the brand’s home market of St. Louis after two decades and a Super Bowl title. On the other, the country’s second-largest media market is now fully engaged for football.

“We need to see the glass half full in the sense that L.A. is a huge urban center, and a huge opportunity for sports,” said Lucas Herscovici, Anheuser-Busch InBev vice president of consumer connections.

The outsized industry attention to the Rams is particularly notable given all the other high-profile stories percolating in Los Angeles these days. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer might be on the cusp of redefining local media rights, the bid to host the 2024 Olympics is gearing up, the Dodgers remain locked in a bitter TV carriage dispute, and last week the University of Southern California hired famed alumnus and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Lynn Swann as its new athletic director.

And that doesn’t even include the historic 60-point performance that Lakers guard Kobe Bryant turned in last Wednesday at Staples Center for his final NBA game, just steps away from the conference.

But the initial moves for the Rams back in Los Angeles likely will focus on fundamentals. Michael Young, Dodgers senior vice president of corporate partnerships, played for the Rams as a wide receiver in the 1980s. He stressed the importance of engaging team alumni and the market’s large Hispanic audience.

“The Rams have a lot of history here, and it’s going to be key for them to tap into that history and communicate that to the fan base in a way that is really engaging and authentic,” Young said. “The big thing for them will be truly establishing a true home-field advantage, because I certainly remember games here where that wasn’t the case.”

Marc Merrill, a Los Angeles native and e-sports pioneer, similarly stressed the need to focus on building long-term affinity for the Rams, even at the expense of potential short-term gains.

“Focus on your customer, your end user,” said Merrill, co-founder of Riot Games. “I think the Rams’ No. 1 customer base they’re going to want to satisfy is Los Angelenos and ensuring they can feel like they’re part of the team.”

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