New owner says Rams belong here
By Bill Coats
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
04/25/2008
A recent proposal by California billionaire Ed Roski Jr. to build an $800 million stadium near Los Angeles, with the goal of attracting an NFL team, was met with raised eyebrows by concerned Rams fans here.
Would Chip Rosenbloom, the team's new owner and a Hollywood filmmaker, shuttle the Rams back to his hometown? Rosenbloom on Thursday sought emphatically to allay such fears.
"We have a lease (through the 2015 season), first of all. We have a commitment to St. Louis, secondly. We don't have any interest in moving to Los Angeles," Rosenbloom said at Rams Park. "Is that clear enough?"
In case it wasn't, Rosenbloom added: "I think that St. Louis is a great home for the Rams. ... I think St. Louis is as committed to the Rams as the Rams are committed to St. Louis. So, I certainly don't see any reason why we would initiate a move to any other city."
Adding to his resolve, Rosenbloom noted, is dissatisfaction with the way his mother, former team owner Georgia Frontiere, was treated at times when the Rams were in LA.
"Since we moved here in 1995, I can tell you the reception is greatly different here from what we experienced in Los Angeles," he said. "We are from Los Angeles and love Los Angeles, but the experience in St. Louis as children of an owner of a football team was remarkably different."
Rosenbloom and his sister, Lucia Rodriguez, split the 60 percent ownership they inherited when Frontiere died Jan. 18 at age 80 after a lengthy battle with breast cancer. Stan Kroenke retained his 40 percent share of the team.
Forbes magazine recently valued the Rams franchise at $908 million.
The NFL requires all teams to designate a managing partner, and Rosenbloom is filling that role. Taking over those duties from his mother are "daunting ... an education," he said. "For 43 years, football has been in my life, with the Colts and then with the Rams, first with my dad (former owner Carroll Rosenbloom) and then with my mom. Now it's with us.
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New owner says Rams belong here
New owner says Rams belong here
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