Los Angeles fans have unified hope over NFL return

This content was originally posted in 7DAYS UAE website at: Los Angeles fans have unified hope over NFL return The NFL has never been closer to ending its 21-year absence from the city that staged the first Super Bowl and supported several teams in several leagues through several decades of professional American football. Those teams all once played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which could see the sport back on its 93-year-old field in August. Several hundred Rams fans – and a few Raiders and Chargers fans, too – gathered outside the stadium last weekend under slate-gray skies that made for perfect football weather. They threw a football, chanted slogans and looked forward to relief from a two-decade drought. “We really can’t believe it’s almost time for this to end,” said lifelong Rams fan Ray Ochoa. “It’s time. We just want football.” The NFL is expected to decide this week whether any combination of the Rams, Chargers and Raiders will be allowed to move to LA. But mere days before the meetings in Houston could end a two-decade discussion, nobody is certain what course the owners will choose. Virtually any combination of those three teams and two stadium proposals are still possibilities. All three teams have history and fan support in the city, and the franchises are eager to capitalise on the theoretically boundless wealth and attention to be found under Hollywood’s bright lights. The owners will consider financial rewards and personal friendships when they make their decision among the three contenders, but it’s unclear whether the ability to capture the heart of those LA fans will play any role. If those owners saw the gathering at the Coliseum, they would know the Rams never lost the fan base they abandoned when the late Georgia Frontiere moved her team to St Louis after the 1994 season, leaving behind 49 years of steadfast support. “There are many fans who have been waiting and loyal, and they still follow the Rams in St Louis,” said Randy Troy, a longtime fan aligned with the Bring Back the Los Angeles Rams supporters’ group. “There are so many football fans in Los Angeles. The NFL is No. 1. What do you think will happen when the LA Rams return here? It’s going to blow up.” There’s no definite way to tell which team has the most fan support in Los Angeles, but the two that moved after the 1994 season both have strong cases. Most observers think the Chargers are in third place in the race for LA fans’ hearts and minds even though they’re technically the only team born in the city. In truth, fan support for pro football teams is just as spread-out and variegated as the five-county greater Los Angeles area. Nearly every NFL franchise has support among the roughly 19 million people who have had no home team to cheer for two decades. The Southland is stacked with fan clubs dedicated to multiple franchises. And it’s clear what a Los Angeles move could mean to the brands of the Rams and Chargers, who both have almost no national following. The Chargers claim they draw 25 per cent of their fan base from the Los Angeles area, although San Diegans laugh about the numbers. “If you tried to do this rally for the Chargers, a dozen people may show up,” Troy said at the Coliseum. “The Rams have thousands. The Raiders could be viable in LA as well.”       Read the original story at: Los Angeles fans have unified hope over NFL return