Fall on campus brings students back to school, and NFL football back to many fans. This is always an exciting time of year for NFL fanatics who love drafting their fantasy football lineups and cheering on their favorite teams.
This year for St. Louis fans, however, a sad reality is about to set in. With the approval of the Rams move to L.A, which was completed last February, this will be the first fall since 1995 that fans in St. Louis do not have a home team to cheer for. This has left many fans angry with the league for allowing the move, and even more angry with, Stan Kroenke, the Rams owner who consistently pushed the idea of moving the team to the west coast. In addition to the anger, many fans have turned away from the sport entirely, believing that the business aspect of the game completely ignores fan loyalty,which has ultimately caused fans to lose faith in the way the league operates.
As a sophomore with an interest in E-Sports, Collin Huguelet said he plans on cheering for the cowboys, because he spent time living in Texas. Colin also mentioned that he used to be a fan of the very popular fantasy football, but has not been in a league for a few years.
On the other hand, Marko Sosnicki, junior, considers football as the least of his concerns. When asked what he liked most about the NFL, Sosnicki replied, “Nothing.” According to Sosnicki, he simply has no interest, and the move of the Rams did not affect him much.
While football fans in St. Louis may be very heated about the Rams move to L.A., fans on campus seem less than bothered by the move. This collective lack of interest appears to be a direct reflection on the way Rams owner, Stan Kroenke, addressed fans while owning the team in St. Louis. Kroenke refused to update the Rams home stadium, The Edward Jones Dome, then purchased land in L.A. for future Rams stadium facilities.
In addition to this apparent lack of dedication to a state in which he attended college, Kroenke also had no interest in taking part in activities within the St. Louis area. In St. Louis, football is a highly-advertised sport, however, with this continued turned-eye towards smaller market teams, the league could quickly lose its popularity.
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