Rams are going broke

[Sgt Schultz]

There are a couple of red flags for me.  First, they cite "Pricey earthquake mitigation measures" as one reason.  Really?  You are building not only a stadium, but entire development in Los Angeles and you didn't see that coming?  Even if I assume Kroenke is that dense, he did not design and spec this thing out himself.  If they under-budgeted that, they did it against the advice of somebody(ies) in the chain of engineers, contractors, project managers, etc.

Then they cite PSL sales are not what they expected.  The Rai-duhs did the exact same thing when they moved from LA to Oakland in the 90s.  I lived in the area at the time and worked several huge Rai-duh fan.  They had to apply for PSLs, and demand was going to be so incredibly ginormous, a lottery was planned to select who got those hot items.  Along with each PSL application, fans had to send in a non-refundable deposit.  My coworker wanted two seats, but applied for six because, well, they were a hot item and he wanted to be sure to get the two he wanted.  Only they weren't a hot item, no lottery was needed, so he got his two PSLs and opted to forfeit the deposit on the other four.  I don't remember the deposit required, but it was substantial.  I think he ate at least $500 each, and it may have been a grand each.  He was not alone, and this was 25 years ago.

PSLs often do not sell like team owners would like to think they will.  If Kroenke and company are acting surprised, I have a bridge to sell them.  I'm sure the virus lock down has an effect: but not a $500M effect.  Apparently they could not convince enough people to send them free money based on the hype.

My guess is that this was either the plan all along, or the number includes whatever combination of overruns and revenue shortages that did surprise them plus some they planned for and are now trying to slough off.  Remember, the NFL was ready to sell its soul to get a team or two back in LA.  If you are the guy who owns a team wanting to make that happen and build the stadium, you had to feel like you had the upper hand in the process.  This may just be an extension of that.

[Mike2.0]

22 hours ago, Wes21 said:

First, the LA market is very fickle and you can't just give them something basic and expect them to show up.  Second, you missed the part where the Rams aren't just building a stadium for themselves.  It was part of what they sold to the other owners for "allowing" the Rams to leave.  The LA stadium and campus is going to be the most extravagant in the league, and quite possibly the entire world.  The NFL is literally supposed to move its media operations into the LA Rams campus.

https://www.sportsvideo.org/2018/03/27/nfl-media-will-move-operations-to-new-rams-chargers-la-stadium-in-2021/

I didn’t mean a basic stadium. The falcons and Vikings stadiums are far from basic, yet didn’t come with the same price tag. I suspect even with the higher costs of LA and California they wouldn’t cost as much to build.

With that said, I do remember the plan the Rams sold the NFL on. It looks amazing and will likely bring a lot of prestige and money into the league, and if the league agreed to move their media operations there then they’ll probably shoulder some of the cost, but again it’s one of those “look at us” lavish kinda things with an exorbitant cost. 

Anyway, be interesting to see what happens and one day visit to experience.

[Jim Harbaugh]

23 hours ago, Wes21 said:

First, the LA market is very fickle and you can't just give them something basic and expect them to show up.  Second, you missed the part where the Rams aren't just building a stadium for themselves.  It was part of what they sold to the other owners for "allowing" the Rams to leave.  The LA stadium and campus is going to be the most extravagant in the league, and quite possibly the entire world.  The NFL is literally supposed to move its media operations into the LA Rams campus.

https://www.sportsvideo.org/2018/03/27/nfl-media-will-move-operations-to-new-rams-chargers-la-stadium-in-2021/

Yes, very fickle, can't be basic or people won't show up in LA. That's why Dodger Stadium blows away every MLB team there is in attendance in a stadium completed 58 years ago. 4 million per year pour through the turnstiles. 

The Dodgers are a SoCal trust, fans feel that way about them. Doesn't matter who owns them or how caustic that owner is. See Frank McCourt. The Rams, with their new stadium must earn the same fan base loyalty in SoCal. This is necessary if you don't want a situation like BofA where every Sunday half the people attending are wearing the opposition's colors.

[RASTAN66]

I thought it was impossible for an NFL/NBA/MLB team to lose money?