By Kiara Paul |Asst Sports Editor|
“I am excited for their comeback! My dad lives in St. Louis and I have always been a fan and the fact that they are coming back to LA makes it even better,” said student Jessye Gentry regarding her excitement for the return of the Rams.
On Jan. 12, 30 of the 32 NFL owners voted in favor to relocate the St. Louis Rams back to Los Angeles.
Stan Kroenke, the current owner of the Rams announced back in January 2015 that he planned to move the Rams to Los Angeles and build a new stadium in Inglewood, CA—a year, later his plan is finally in action.
The new stadium will be built where the old Hollywood Park race track resides and is planned to be 300 acres with the capability to seat around 80,000 fans, according to CNN.
The massive stadium will be complete in 2019, so in the meantime, the Rams will begin their 2016 season playing at the Coliseum.
Although this caused some controversy in St. Louis, most students on campus are excited to have an NFL team so close to home.
Alex Sosa agreed that it’s about time LA gets a football team.
“Many of us didn’t get to witness the Rams or Raiders when they were last here, so of course this is exciting! I do find it interesting though to see how many people will convert to Rams fans,” stated Sosa.
Kodi Anderson had an opposing view.
“It is sad St. Louis fans will lose the team, seats were filled up at the stadium and I don’t think they will have the same fan base,” said Anderson.
LA has been without a football team since 1994 when both the Rams and Oakland Raiders relocated after their final games on Dec. 24, 1994.
It has been 21 years since the Rams played here in LA, they were moved to St. Louis after Georgia Frontiere, owner of the Rams from 1979 to 2008, decided to move the team to her home state of Missouri.
Frontiere had inherited the Rams after her husband Carroll Rosenbloom drowned while swimming off the coast of Florida in 1979.
Almost 15 years after she obtained control of the Rams she made her move, relocating the team out of LA.
From 1995 to 2015, the Rams remained in St. Louis and it seemed to look as if LA would remain a city without a football team until 2016 when it was confirmed that the Rams were coming “home.”
The hype sent LA based fans reeling. As of last week fans can place a deposit of $100 to lock in a place to purchase a season ticket.
The Rams website stated how the process of a deposit works, “By opening an account and placing a refundable deposit, fans will secure an opportunity to purchase Los Angeles Rams season tickets for the 2016 season at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum beginning this spring.”
Most students will not be buying a season ticket, but they had a lot to say about the deposit just to secure a spot.
“I think it is a smart idea because of the hype of buying season tickets are high in demand,” said CSUSB Student Austin Spearow.
The Rams are more than welcomed back home to LA based on the reaction of the fans here at CSUSB.
Everyone is looking forward to the 2016 NFL season.
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