In 1995, after a downturn in popularity and notable conflict within the tumultuous organization, the Los Angeles Rams decided to make their move to St. Louis. For 20 years, the franchise remained in the Gateway to the West and won Super Bowl XXXIV over the Tennessee Titans. When current owner Stan Kroenke bought a 40 percent stake of the Rams and they relocated in 1995, he vowed to keep the team in St. Louis. That vow would be broken, however, as of January 13 of this year, when it was announced that the St. Louis Rams would return to Los Angeles.

What is more interesting, however, is that this move to L.A. isn’t the first time a St. Louis football franchise has moved. In an interview with English teacher Chuck Wagner, he talked of the woes of many sports teams and mentioned the move of the St. Louis Cardinals football team to Arizona. He recalled the reason as being “bad ownership, and the play on the field reflected that.” The team enjoyed brief success in the early 1980’s, but play regressed to mediocre with the team finishing .500 or below in 1985, ‘86, and ‘87.

Such bad play and ownership also spurred this year’s move, as the Rams have not been to the playoffs since 2004 when Kurt Warner was the quarterback. Wagner questioned the move by the Rams, however, because of “the lack of recent success… There are so many other things to do in Los Angeles that if you are not a successful team, then you won’t draw any fans.”

The Rams move to Los Angeles holds a lot of pressure due to the glaring needs of the Rams, particularly at the center, quarterback, and wide receiver positions. Immediate success is not guaranteed, nor is it expected. Additionally, being in Los Angeles means competition for fan attraction due to the popularity of the Lakers, Clippers, and the L.A. Kings. According to Nate Latsch’s article on Scout.com, the biggest question for the Rams is stability: the team needs to keep a coach and a quarterback long-term, and they need to make sure that their priority free agents are re-signed.

There could be initial short term attendance spikes due to the excitement of football returning to Los Angeles. The success in terms of a good record and playoff berths most likely will be at least a year or two in the future, as the team is in rebuilding mode. The rebuilding needs to be successful and swift because otherwise the Rams could easily find themselves on the move in the not-too-distant future.