Mayors, football players, and fans were voicing their opinions — excited and not so excited — to the announcement Tuesday that the St. Louis Rams were to move to a new stadium just outside Los Angeles.
NFL owners made the much-anticipated vote Tuesday that the Rams were allowed to move to the Inglewood stadium that was set to be built while the San Diego Chargers had the option to share the new digs.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said the Oakland Raiders also could move to LA if the Chargers do not.
Fans were rallying outside of the future stadium site in Inglewood, and were quick to pledge their undying love to the Rams.
"I do feel for the fans in St Louis. We know what it's like to lose a team!" Angel Fabela, a Santa Clarita resident, said, referring to the Rams departure from LA in 1994.
Fellow Rams devotees echoed the sadness of losing the team.
"I was really sad! No Raider wagon. No San Diego wagon, nothing like that. I was hoping they'd come back and my wishes came true," Gabriel Martinez of Compton said.
Rams players too seemed pumped at the prospect of heading to the West Coast.
LA Mayor Eric Garcetti of course saw the final decision as a win.
"Today, with the NFL returning home, Los Angeles cements itself as the epicenter of the sports world. We cannot wait to welcome the Rams, and perhaps others soon, as they join a storied lineup of professional franchises, collegiate powerhouses, and sports media companies. With the return of the NFL, there is yet another reason for visitors to come to Los Angeles, and for Angelenos to love calling this city home. I look forward to seeing the players out on the field," Garcetti said in a statement.
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After the decision came down that Inglewood landed the stadium site, the mayor took to Twitter to celebrate.
"Inglewood has been transformed. Welcome Rams, Stan and the NFL. We're going to Disneyland," Mayor James T. Butts said.
Carson officials — who were rivaling with their own bid — voiced their dismay.
"We wish Inglewood and our former partners, the Chargers and the Raiders, the best of luck," Carson Mayor Albert Robles said.
Robles also said he was also excited for the opportunity to get moving with the property hat was to be designated to the stadium.
"After April, for the first time ever, the city will be in complete control of the destiny of this shovel ready, hugely valuable, strategically located property," Robles said.
But it didn't mean the doors were shut completely.
"If the League must revisit this issue, Carson stands ready," Robles said.
St. Louis officials, who were to receive funds to build a new stadium if the Rams stayed in Missouri, were clearly unhappy with the NFL's ruling.
"The NFL ignored the facts, the loyalty of St. Louis fans, who supported the team through far more downs than ups, and the NFL ignored a strong market and viable plan for a new stadium," St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay said.
