St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke may be trying to move his team to Los Angeles, but the team’s current home is not going down without a fight.
Sports Business Journal’s Daniel Kaplan reports that a prospective NFL stadium in St. Louis agreed to a 20-year, $158 million naming rights deal with National Car Rental. The stadium would be called National Car Rental Field.
The deal with National Car Rental could dispute the notion that St. Louis is not a viable market for an NFL team. Owners looking to move a team must prove to the other owners voting on a potential move that they made a good-faith effort to make things work within their market, and if the market shows willingness like this to support the team, it could counter Kroenke’s effort.
There are three NFL teams seeking new stadiums and hoping for a move to LA: the San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders and the Rams. The league is expected to decide the future of a team in Los Angeles by the first few months of 2016, if not earlier.
It’s a smart move for National; the deal may not come into play at all, and in the meantime they’re getting a lot of brand exposure.
