St Louis Rams Owner Moving NFL Team To Los Angeles In 2016?

St Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke has a plan to build a new NFL stadium in Los Angeles, which means he could be planning to move his franchise to 2nd biggest market in the country as early as 2016. Kroenke - who also owns NBA team the Denver Nuggets as well as NHL franchise the Colorado Avalanche and the Colorado Rapids of the MLS - has a site in Inglewood, California next to The Forum and Hollywood Park, and now has a plan for an 80,000 seat NFL stadium, as well as 6,000 capacity performance venue on Hollywood Park, which up until 2013, was a famed racetrack.

As ESPN LA's Arash Markazi reports, signatures will be gathered for the "'City of Champions Revitalization Project' on the Inglewood municipal ballot in 2015 and if it passes, construction on the project would begin by the end of the year."

According to ESPN, Inglewood mayor James T. Butts, Jr. told a news conference in front of Inglewood City Hall on Monday that "This project is going forward."

"We're thrilled in the City of Inglewood. Here we are in in the position to build that field of dreams and hope that they'll come."

Says Markazi, the senior vice president of Hollywood Park Land Company Chris Meany also added that the company "were committed to beginning construction on the stadium with or without a commitment from an NFL team."

St. Louis Rams Owner Stan Kroenke Plans to Build #NFL Stadium in Los Angeles & move 3,000 km to create #LA franchise! pic.twitter.com/qTytVdXVZS

— SPORT CONVO (@sportconvo) January 5, 2015

Of course, the St Louis Rams are a prime candidate; they were, after all, based in Los Angeles until 1994 when they (and the Oakland, nee LA, Raiders) moved. The LA Times point out that the Rams can leave St Louis as they are yet to "strike a deal on a new stadium."

As The LA Times reported, Kroenke's plan and the announcement from Hollywood Park Land Company and Stockbridge Capital Group (which owns the nearly 300-acre Hollywood Park site) "is the latest in more than a dozen stadium proposals that have come and gone in the meandering, two-decade effort to bring an NFL franchise back to the nation's second-largest media market."

However, as they point out, "Kroenke's move marks the first time an existing team owner has controlled a local site large enough for a stadium and parking."

St. Louis responds to Kroenke's stadium construction plans https://t.co/aXhs3MF1yZ pic.twitter.com/e9pKLubHL6

— SundayNight Football (@SNFonNBC) January 5, 2015

According to NBC Sports, The two mean in charge of keeping the Rams in St Louis, Dave Peacock and Bob Blitz said "The news today is another reminder of how much competition there can be for National Football League franchises and projects that include NFL stadiums, but it does not change our timeline or approach." They will present their plan to Missouri Governor Nixon this Friday.

What do you think? Is it fair for St Louis to lose the Rams if they can't strike a deal? Would you like to see an NFL franchise in Los Angeles?

Next step for Kroenke: getting NFL to promise 4-5 Super Bowls over next 20 years, then sell SB seat licenses to pay for new stadium.

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) January 5, 2015