The owners of the St. Louis Rams have retained Goldman Sachs to line up potential buyers. Fans there are fretting that they once again will lose their NFL team, especially since the Rams' old town has been without a franchise since 1995. Is it time for their fans to preemptively pester the patron saint of lost things?
Should St. Louis pray to St. Anthony?
As compelling as that story line sounds, the Rams' returning to Los Angeles, it just isn't going to happen. Not now. And maybe not ever.
There are plenty of reasons why there won't be an L.A. reboot of the Rams. Here are some of them:
* Cost: Rams owners reportedly are hoping to get at least $850 million for the team, and a privately financed stadium will cost $800 million at a bare minimum. Factor in a relocation fee imposed by the NFL, and the number soars well north of $2 billion. Earlier this decade, potential deals cost half that and barely made economic sense.
* Priorities: It would be surprising if returning to L.A. cracked the top five issues on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's to-do list. It might not even be in the top 10. Just about every ounce of energy now is spent on working out a labor agreement with the players.
* Labor: If there is a work stoppage or strike in 2011 -- and don't discount that very real possibility -- that would seriously complicate any type of relocation. How do you pay the bills on a glistening new palace if nobody is in the seats?
* Is the grass any greener? The Rams might not have the best stadium in the league, but their lease ranks right up there. The first out clause doesn't come until after the 2014 season. The club pays a nominal amount to play in a dome paid for entirely by taxpayer money. Fans largely have been supportive of the team, even in down years, and the Rams haven't done a lot of searching for alternative deals in their own backyard.
* NFL is in control: The days of packing up the moving vans and relocating in the middle of the night are long gone. The NFL controls the L.A. market, because the league can deny the moving team the seed money to build a new stadium. Any team that breaks its lease doesn't qualify for that money. It's not as if an NFL club is going to leave its current stadium to become a second tenant in the as-is Coliseum or Rose Bowl.
* Politics: Don't discount the fact that Missouri is a battleground state with a strong congressional delegation. With a budding labor fight on its hands, one that already threatens to get Capitol Hill involved, can the league afford to clothesline that hornet's nest?
