LOS ANGELES — St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke came out the victor among three National Football League teams vying to bring pro football back to Los Angeles after a two-decade absence.
The league's owners agreed to move the Rams to Inglewood, a Los Angeles suburb, after an all-day Tuesday meeting, leaving St. Louis without a team and both the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders hanging.
The Rams, who called Los Angeles home from 1946-1994, will return for the 2016 NFL season.
Kroenke, a Missouri native, called the decision to move the team "bittersweet," but one that he thinks is in the best long-term interests of the Rams organization and the NFL.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said in a statement the decision "sets a terrible precedent, not only for St. Louis, but for all communities that have loyally supported their NFL franchises."
The new Rams stadium isn't expected to open until 2019, so the Rams would share the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with the University of Southern California football team until then. The fates of the Chargers and Raiders are less clear.
The NFL owners rejected the Raiders' and Chargers' plan to build a joint stadium in Carson, 10 miles south of downtown Los Angeles.
The Chargers were given one year to decide if they want to share the Inglewood stadium with the Rams. If the Chargers don't exercise that option, the Raiders would receive the option of sharing the stadium with the Rams.
Both the Raiders and the Rams also were offered $100 million by the NFL to build new stadiums in their current cities.
Kroenke partnered with Stockbridge Capital Group in early 2015 to build a $1.86 billion, 80,000-seat stadium to anchor a 298-acre sports and entertainment district and mixed-use development with retail, office and hotel on a former racing track.
Calling it more than just a stadium, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the owners believe the project will be "extraordinarily successful in the Los Angeles market."
Los Angeles has lacked a team since the Rams left Anaheim for St. Louis and the Raiders left the Coliseum for Oakland, both after the 1994 season.
The Rams, Raiders and the San Diego Chargers all competed for a piece of the enormous Los Angeles market, submitting relocation plans to the NFL on Jan. 4.
"I will be working over the next several weeks to explore the options that we have now created for ourselves to determine the best path forward for the Chargers," Chargers owner Dean Spanos said.
San Diego Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer and San Diego County Supervisor Chairman Ron Roberts, who had worked furiously over the past year to keep the Chargers, released a terse joint statement last night.
"If Mr. Spanos has a sincere interest in reaching a fair agreement in San Diego, we remain committed to negotiating in good faith," Faulconer and Roberts said in the joint statement. "We are not interested in a charade by the Chargers if they continue to pursue Los Angeles."
The Chargers broke off talks with the city in June. San Diego officials approached the NFL with the plan to retain the team without Spanos' support.
The team's annual window to give notice of intention to end its lease at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium runs for three months beginning Feb. 1.
If notice is given, the team still has to pay the city $15 million remaining on a $50 million bond debt stemming from a 1997-98 stadium renovation.
The Raiders' lease in Oakland has expired.
In comments
"We remain confident that the Raiders can build a new stadium in Oakland without a direct public subsidy," Schaaf tweeted. "We stand ready to work with the Raiders and the NFL to responsibly make that happen."
