THE TRUTH Behind Why the St. Louis Rams Really MOVED to LA
Los Angeles has remained a fixture in the business side of the NFL, despite the rotating carousal of franchises that have come and gone from the City of Angels.
Any time an owner wanted something from the franchise’s city for their stadium, they would leverage the tantalizing opportunity to move their team to Los Angeles.
Because Los Angeles has always been such a powerful market, the owners were able to use the prospects of a westward move to hardball the local politicians into corralling enough tax dollars for whatever renovations that they felt their stadium needed.
Like when Colts Owner, Jim Irsay, kept his airplane at the nearby Van Nuys Airport – in plain sight – to signal that he was having meetings with local officials about moving the Colts to L.A.
Sure, it was PROBABLY just posturing, but Indianapolis wasn’t risking it and they signed a deal to help Irsay and the Colts build a new venue in Indy shortly after.