St. Louis Giddily Greets Its New Rams : Pro football: The city celebrates announcement of move, but Southland die-hards keep hoping.

ST. LOUIS — It’s official: The Los Angeles Rams agreed Tuesday to take the money and run.

In a frenzy of self-congratulation, the Rams were signed, sealed and all but delivered to football-starved St. Louis as the city by the Mississippi put a virtual pot of gold at the end of its famed arch and lured away what was once one of the National Football League’s most distinguished franchises.

Signing a blown-up version of a relocation agreement, St. Louis city and county officials turned the anti-climactic announcement of the move into a giddy celebration complete with indoor fireworks and streamers.

“I’m overwhelmed,” joked team owner Georgia Frontiere, 67, who stands to make more than $20 million annually as part of the deal. “I don’t think I’ve been this happy since the last game we won.”

Frontiere, who has been shopping cities for more than a year, also introduced her new partner, Stan Kroenke. The Missouri businessman will pay $60 million for a 30% share of the team and the title of vice chairman of the Rams board.

Pending league approval, the move will end the Rams’ 49-year relationship with Southern California, where the team made 14 playoff appearances from 1973 through 1989 and reached the 1980 Super Bowl. It also ends a seven-year NFL drought for St. Louis, which lost the Cardinals to Phoenix in 1988.

“The happiness . . . it’s like going to a wedding,” a tearful Frontiere said after the 45-minute news conference, during which she received several standing ovations. “The sadness . . . it’s like going to a funeral.

“I just felt like this is where I have to be--this is home,” said Frontiere, who was born Georgia Irwin in St. Louis in 1927 and attended nearby Soldan High School before moving to California at age 15. “To be greeted like that almost took my breath away. It was hard to keep from crying. . . . I mean, the spirit of St. Louis has kind of gotten into me.”

But while St. Louis exploded in pigskin-mad rejoicing, another NFL franchise delivered a cautionary note Tuesday: To finalize her exit from Anaheim, Frontiere still must garner the votes of 23 of the league’s 30 owners at the NFL’s March 12-17 league meeting in Phoenix.

“I don’t think that it’s a sure thing at all at this point,” said Roger L. Headrick, president and chief executive officer of the Minnesota Vikings. “One of the things you have to look at is the reasons that they lost money (in Anaheim).”

Headrick said he had discussed the possible move with other owners before Tuesday’s announcement. “I feel some of them are in favor of it, but there are others, like myself, who remain to be convinced.” he said. “I think it’s tough right now to get 23 votes for anything.”

Members of Save the Rams, the group trying to keep the team in Orange County, also stressed Tuesday that the St. Louis celebration is premature.

“Ram fans should not lose hope,” said Newport Beach sports attorney Leigh Steinberg, a Save the Rams co-chairman. “St. Louis can celebrate from here until doomsday. . . . But the reality is that we only need the votes of eight owners.”

Steinberg said efforts to block the move have already begun.

“Hopefully, we will get the hearing with the league that we never got with the Rams,” Steinberg said. “The Rams clearly had a plan to move to St. Louis that didn’t just spring up in August, 1994. Part of that plan was an unwillingness to seriously hear the local proposals to keep the team.”

But Frontiere said she doesn’t think she will have any trouble convincing the other owners of the benefits of having the Rams in St. Louis. Tuesday night, she planned to fly to New York to meet other owners for a party Wednesday celebrating the NFL’s 75th anniversary.

“I think they would all be happy for me,” she said. “We’re all (financial) partners, and I think when they come (to St. Louis), they’ll realize that there’s more (money) here to take home with them.”

In Anaheim--a city held hostage for nearly a year for a ransom they couldn’t or wouldn’t pay--city officials said they have already targeted as new tenants four specific teams, which they declined to name.

“Assuming that the Rams are successful in getting the league vote, we will be aggressively pursuing another NFL franchise,” City Manager James D. Ruth said.

Ruth would not say whether officials are actively courting the Los Angeles Raiders but said, “The Raiders are a quality, winning franchise. We would be proud to have them consider Orange County.”

But some questioned Tuesday how easy would it be to lure another team to an area that lately was unable to fill the stands when it had a franchise.

“At the moment I think a lot of people are saying, ‘Great. Let them go. We’ll get another franchise,’ ” said Andy Puzder, a Newport Beach attorney and Save the Rams member. “I don’t know if they realize how difficult that will be.”

While city officials began searching for a new Anaheim Stadium tenant, frustrated fans and former players began to absorb the loss. The Rams were the first big league sports team to move to California, arriving from Cleveland in 1946.

“It is outrageous that an NFL owner is allowed to run down a franchise and hijack the team to a desperate city for a huge ransom,” said Jeff Hamill, 40, of Anaheim Hills, whose family has held season tickets for 17 years. “Fifty years in Southern California should count for something with the NFL.”

From his hometown of Richmond, Ind., Rams great Lamar Lundy, a 6-foot-7 leader of the famed Fearsome Foursome defensive line, remembered the days when the talk about the team was much kinder.

Lundy, 59, spoke of the three magical years in the mid-1960s when he, Rosey Grier, Merlin Olsen and Deacon Jones--”The Secretary of Defense”-- captured the imagination of the fans.

“It was just the right combination and everything worked,” said Lundy, who signed with the Rams for $8,500 in 1957. “It wasn’t teams playing the Rams. The teams were playing the Fearsome Foursome. . . . St. Louis Rams is going to be a hard name for me to accept for a while.”

Some fans and former players said the Rams really left Los Angeles 15 years ago, when former owner Carroll Rosenbloom arranged to move from the Los Angeles Coliseum, where the team had played and made history for 30 years, to Anaheim, an hour’s drive and a world away for many of the team’s Westside fans.

Rosenbloom died just before the move, and fans say the team was never the same under Frontiere, his widow who inherited the team upon his death. Many fans this week accused her of dismantling the team and, when only pieces remained, shipping it off to the deepest pockets.

After the jubilant St. Louis press conference, Frontiere said she understood the frustration of Southern California fans.

“I have those same emotions myself,” Frontiere said. “I’m angry it had to come to this, and I’m sad for the people (in Southern California) who cared.”

But Frontiere, who was given one key to the city and another to the new, 70,000-seat, domed stadium the Rams hope to call home in October, was given a hero’s welcome by St. Louis fans.

After her ceremonial signing of the relocation agreement, Frontiere raised her arms as if to signal a touchdown and shook her fist in the air.

“They always say money is a means to an end, this time it’s a means to a beginning,” Frontiere said.

Rams President John Shaw, who orchestrated the yearlong negotiations that focused primarily on St. Louis and Baltimore, said Frontiere received an offer from a Southern California group to sell the team for $225 million.

“But I didn’t want to sell,” Frontiere said. “That wasn’t an option.”

So she chose to go to St. Louis, where the Rams will receive virtually all revenue from the taxpayer-financed stadium and 15-year guarantees on the sale of luxury boxes and club seats, a package that is expected to net the Rams more than $20 million a year in pretax profits.

St. Louis officials believe it’s a wise investment, and Tuesday’s announcement was handled as a civic celebration, with Mayor Freeman Bosley lending the proceedings an almost revival-like flavor.

“When we lost the Big Red (Cardinals), our pride was wounded, our image diminished nationwide,” said St. Louis County Executive George (Buzz) Westfall, who was joined onstage by Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-St. Louis), Bosley, former U.S. senator Thomas Eagleton--who led the negotiations to lure the Rams--and several civic leaders. “But four years ago, we started getting over it.”

“Pro sports play a large role in whether you’re perceived as an exciting, fun town or a boring town. But we’re on a roll, this town is on a roll, and it’s going to stay on a roll,” said Westfall, who was wearing a tie festooned with the Ram helmets and joked he had 5,000 more in his trunk. “Thanks to Thomas Eagleton and Mrs. Frontiere, the wound is healed.”

And for weary St. Louis fans, who were cut out of an NFL expansion team late in 1993, then endured six agonizing months of negotiations with the Rams, it was time to party.

Restaurants and sports bars around the city and county staged rallies and celebrations that lasted well into the evening, and several private parties were held for Ram executives and area government and business leaders who made the deal possible.

NBC commentator Bob Costas and ABC announcer Dan Dierdorf, both St. Louis-area residents, played host to a five-hour St. Louis Rams radio party on KMOX, and local television stations provided live feeds from the revelry.

Ram merchandise emblazoned “Meet me at the Dome” began flooding St. Louis-area shops Tuesday afternoon, and more is expected throughout the week, although manufacturers are not allowed by law to produce items with official St. Louis Rams logos until the move is approved.

St. Louis will pay dearly for the team. In addition to the lucrative lease offered to the Rams, fans are being asked to raise $67 million through a personal seat licensing program--a one-time fee for the right to purchase season tickets. These fees will cover almost all of the team’s relocation costs.

Some 46,000 licenses, priced from $250 to $4,500, will go on sale, with 34,500 of them costing $1,000 or less. The Rams’ deal is contingent on selling 40,000 licenses by March 7, a week or so before the expected NFL vote.

“If we flunk the test and can’t show support for the team, then I wouldn’t expect the Rams to go forward with their application to move,” Eagleton said. “The game is in the hands of thousands of St. Louisians to prove we can pass the test.”

Several area banks are offering five-year financing for license purchases, and charter license owners will have their names “immortalized” on a special Wall of Honor in the stadium.

“I know people have complained about the financial aspect of this, but you look at the Tampa Bay deal, they were sold for $192 million,” said Bryan Herrick, a 31-year-old community college counselor from St. Louis. “It’s not going to get any cheaper. You either play the game and pay the price, or you don’t get an NFL team.”

If the move is approved, the Rams will open the 1995 season in Busch Stadium, the 52,000-seat home of the baseball Cardinals. The new stadium, which will include 113 luxury suites and 6,550 club seats, is scheduled to be completed in late October.

But while they celebrated in St. Louis, Frontiere’s deal was viewed in Orange County as the staggering second blow in an unthinkable one-two punch: Exactly six weeks after the county went bankrupt, it has apparently lost one of the nation’s most sought after civic treasures--its pro football franchise.

Orange County Supervisor William G. Steiner, a Save the Rams member, acknowledged that his county had received an unprecedented double whammy.

“Don’t count us out,” he said. “Just like the bankruptcy, the loss of the Rams is a temporary setback.”

And Steiner said other NFL owners may be happy to accept the offer that Save the Rams held out to Frontiere and Shaw. “Our offer is better than what most NFL owners receive from their own franchises, their own communities. We have nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Times staff writers Greg Hernandez, T.J. Simers and Lon Eubanks contributed to this story.

Rams Coverage

* FIGHTING ON -- Leaders of the Save the Rams task force say they will continue their efforts to keep the team in Anaheim. A12

* ANGELS TOO? -- Owner Jackie Autry warned that if stadium lease woes aren’t worked out, her team may be the next to leave. A14

* MORE PHOTOS, STORIES: A12-16, C1, 4-5

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Long and Winding Road

A history of the Rams’ relationship with Orange County:

1978

Rams announce move from Los Angeles Coliseum to Anaheim Stadium, beginning in 1980 season.

1980

Team signs a 35-year lease to use Anaheim Stadium. It also leases former Juliette Low Middle School and converts it into Rams Park practice and office facility.

1990

Escape clause added to stadium lease, allowing team to break it by giving 15 months’ notice and $30 million to settle a stadium improvement debt. Clause added in exchange for Rams agreeing to Anaheim Arena construction.

1993

Oct. 31: After 40-17 loss at San Francisco, reports surface that Rams, unhappy with lease and dwindling crowds, are considering invoking escape clause and moving, possibly to Baltimore.

Dec. 16: Rams Executive Vice President John Shaw confirms team has been contacted by groups in Baltimore, St. Louis and Memphis but says it isn’t ready to enter serious negotiations.

Dec. 23: In a rare interview, owner Georgia Frontiere says she has no interest in selling team but is exploring option of moving it.

1994

Jan. 6: Rams notify Anaheim of intention to break stadium lease, and give formal 15-month notice on May 3.

Jan. 20: Shaw meets for first time with Maryland Stadium Authority to discuss possible move to Baltimore.

March 31: After two-month dispute with city over practice facility, Rams refuse to sign lease agreement, face eviction.

April 8: Eviction lawsuit filed. Team given five days to respond before court date is set.

April 15: Team signs 10-year practice facility lease, which includes six-month escape clause.

May 3: Rams give formal notice to terminate Anaheim Stadium lease, effective Aug. 3, 1995, and make required $2-million payment. Move opens way for team to explore options elsewhere.

May 8: Frontiere says she is being forced to consider relocation because of financial concerns and adds for first time that she might consider selling a minority interest in team to facilitate a move. She adds that local officials must come up with a substantially improved offer to keep team.

May 12: Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos makes first of several trips to Los Angeles to discuss moving Rams to Baltimore.

June 6: A Times Orange County poll shows only three in 10 county voters believe keeping Rams is important to them personally. Fully three in four voters oppose government financial assistance to team.

June 17: Newport Beach-based agent Leigh Steinberg says he is primed to lead fight to keep Rams in Orange County. He says fledgling “Save the Rams” task force must be expanded and that he intends to join forces with group. Rams, meanwhile, announce season ticket sales are off 30% and project loss of $5 million to $8 million for season.

June 26: Missouri contingent headed by House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) and St. Louis Mayor Freeman Bosley Jr. meets with Shaw.

July 8: Save the Rams leaders including Steinberg and former Disneyland President Jack Lindquist meet with Shaw and learn a package designed to keep team must include a new or refurbished stadium, improved luxury boxes, increased ticket sales and an improved stadium lease.

July 20: Shaw says he is “disappointed” about reports Save the Rams has shelved plans to pursue a new stadium and will focus instead on a $50- to $70-million renovation of Anaheim Stadium. Steinberg says extensive improvements would create a football-only facility that would be as good as a new one.

July 30: About 300 fans show up at Rams UC Irvine practice facility for a Save the Rams pep rally.

Aug. 5: Anaheim city officials say they will formally begin plans to refurbish Anaheim Stadium and revitalize its surrounding area.

Aug. 9: It’s revealed Rams have sent St. Louis officials an ambitious “wish list” that includes all revenue from games to be played in new stadium plus a payment of $30 million team would still owe Anaheim if it moved. Officials there say it’s unlikely all demands could be met.

Aug. 10: Shaw says team has decided to hold off on negotiations until St. Louis resolves ongoing dispute over stadium lease.

Aug. 24: Save the Rams makes a pitch that includes $50-million infusion of cash through purchase of minority interest in team and refurbished stadium. As meeting is held, Frontiere says she remains open to keeping team here but holds little hope that it can be done if a new stadium isn’t built. Shaw remains noncommittal on Save the Rams proposal.

Sept. 9: Shaw says Save the Rams proposal fails to measure up to deals being offered by other cities. He adds that while he feels for Ram fans, hometown loyalty will have little to do with what will be a business decision.

Sept. 16: Save the Rams sweetens proposal with a plan members say would guarantee team revenue of $15 million to $20 million per year through season-ticket and luxury box guarantees.

Sept. 22: Maryland Gov. Shaefer says recent meeting with Rams leaves him pessimistic team will wind up in Baltimore.

Oct. 2: NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue says league has been mulling possibility of forming a partnership with investors and governments in Southern California to build an 80,000-seat football-only stadium that could serve as home to Rams and Raiders and regular Super Bowls. No specifics are disclosed.

Oct. 11: St. Louis officials again meet with Shaw and respond to his demands with a 25-page proposal that includes a plan to raise at least $60 million for team through a seat-licensing proposal.

Nov. 15: Save the Rams officials say they will rethink strategy and consider ways to finance a new, football-only stadium.

Dec. 8: For first time, Frontiere meets with representatives of Rams boosters to discuss situation. But afterward, club president Frank Bryant and vice president Linda Moomau are pessimistic team will stay.

Dec. 13: Shaw denies published report of agreement on partial sale of team to St. Louis businessman Stan Kroenke and says no deal is imminent.

1995

Jan. 14: Frontiere tells The Times she has no choice but to move the team to St. Louis.

Jan. 17: Rams announce they have accepted a lucrative deal to begin play in St. Louis beginning with the 1995 season.

Source: Times reports

Researched by MIKE REILLEY / Los Angeles Times