NFL’s St. Louis Rams Given Approval to Relocate to Los Angeles

National Football League (NFL) franchise the St. Louis Rams will officially be relocating to Los Angeles for the 2016 season after the league approved its application.

NFL owners voted 30-2 to ratify the Rams’ relocation application for an immediate move to L.A.

The decision will see the NFL return to the country’s second largest market for the first time in 21 years. The Rams played in L.A. for 48 years from 1946-1994.

The team will eventually begin play at owner Stan Kroenke’s proposed stadium site in Inglewood in 2019.

The Rams could also be joined by the San Diego Chargers, who have a one-year option to decide if they want to relocate and join the Rams in Inglewood.

According to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, the Chargers will have up until the conclusion of owners meetings (March 20-23) to decide if they’re playing in L.A. or San Diego in 2016.

The third team who filed an application for relocation to L.A., the Oakland Raiders, withdrew their application on Tuesday and will work with the league toward a stadium solution, likely to be in Oakland.

If the Chargers do not exercise their option to move to Los Angeles, the Raiders will have a one-year option to join the Rams in Inglewood.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell revealed during a news conference that the league will provide $100 million to both the Chargers and Raiders if they remain in their current home markets.

The move for the St. Louis Rams will see the city lose its second NFL team, as the Rams followed in the footsteps of the Arizona Cardinals, who left the city for Phoenix before the 1988 season.

“Relocation is a painful process,” NFL Commissioner Goodell said.

“It’s painful for the fans, the communities, the teams, for the league in general. Stability is something that we’ve taken a great deal of pride in and in some ways a bittersweet moment because we were unsuccessful in being able to get the kind of facilities that we wanted to get done in their home markets.”

Rams owner Stan Kroenke added: “We understand the emotions involved of our fans and it’s not easy to do these things.

“They are purposely made hard, but we’re here today. We made a decision and we worked long and hard at the various alternatives. When they didn’t succeed we worked to this point.

“We look forward to returning to Los Angeles and building a world-class NFL entertainment district in Inglewood.”

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