Rams’ success depends on fans
They packed the Coliseum, buying every seat available — for a preseason game. Ten thousand more seats were opened up, and those were snatched up too.
Apparently, that’s what happens when you bring the NFL back to Los Angeles, a city starved for professional football since the Rams and Raiders both left in 1994.
Now, the Rams are back, and L.A. sports fans are soaking it up like the second coming of Christ. A crowd of 91,000 crammed and sweated its way into the NFL’s temporary new home in the City of Angels to watch a game that didn’t count, with third stringers getting as much playing time as the starters.
But that didn’t seem to matter. It was one giant party celebrating the return of America’s most popular sports league. The Rams could have trotted out JaMarcus Russell at quarterback and the hoopla would have been the same.
Still, the Rams occupying the Coliseum is an interesting test-case for how a large market will adapt to a new professional team, and the questions should begin with how much interest there will actually be in the Rams.
The last time the Rams played a home game in Southern California was Christmas Eve 1994, when they wrapped up an uninspired 4-12 season with a loss to the 3-13 Redskins in front of an abysmal 25,705 fans in Anaheim. The situation was so hopeless, the team so behind in the vast Los Angeles sports landscape that the owner packed up and moved the team from Hollywood to the Midwest.
“Once the bridges have been burned and people get turned off on a sports franchise, years of loyalty is not respected and it is difficult to get it back,” former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said to The New York Times.
It’s difficult to say whether those words will ring true now as the Rams’ attempt to woo back the fanbase that they deserted some 20-odd years ago. For one, as popular as football was back in the ’90s, the sport has taken off since the turn of the century, and fantasy sports have exploded into a multi-billion dollar industry. People will live, breathe and eat anything football-related, no matter which teams are playing.
Perhaps just as important is the fact that a whole generation of football fans living in Los Angeles grew up without an NFL team to support. According to the Los Angeles Times, the Rams are targeting millennials through social media to expand their fanbase, a perfect age group to target, because while they may not remember the Rams in Los Angeles growing up, their allegiances to other teams could be trumped by the hometown squad that just moved in.
A good first impression is also a must — the Rams know this. It’s why they put all their chips on the table and traded up for the No. 1 pick in the draft this year to select Jared Goff, who they hope to be their franchise quarterback.
At this rate, though, the Rams may have to stress patience over immediate gratification. Goff has struggled in practice, and it’s looking more and more likely that Case Keenum will start the year at quarterback. It’s safe to say fans will not pay ridiculous ticket prices to watch Case Keenum be the centerpiece of the franchise.
Which leads to the elephant in the room: Will there be enough football craze in Los Angeles to share between USC and UCLA — two storied college programs with strong attendance figures — and an NFL team? Will college football fans who usually just tune in on Saturdays start planning their Sundays around the Rams’ schedule? On weekends where either USC or UCLA is at home at the same time as the Rams, will fans go for the weekend doubleshot or just stay home on Sunday after a tiring Saturday at the game?
There are two weekends this season when USC and the Rams both play at the Coliseum (USC vs. Colorado on Oct. 8, followed by Rams vs. Buffalo Bills on Oct. 9 and USC vs. Oregon on Nov. 5, followed by Rams vs. Carolina Panthers on Nov. 6). It will be very interesting to compare the attendance of the games, and — because there is guaranteed to be football at the Coliseum almost every week — whether USC students take up the opportunity to watch an NFL game in their own backyard.
A simple solution to any concern regarding interest would be winning. Winning cures everything: attracting fans, sponsors and the spotlight, which is especially important in the second largest media market in the country.
Unfortunately, the Rams may not be doing a whole lot of that right out of the gate. Pro Football Focus predicts that they will finish tied for the worst record in the NFC at 4-12. Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher, who could write a how-to guide on coaching mediocre, .500 teams, would probably be happy with an 8-8 season and a flash in the pan from Goff.
But, in the case that the team struggles, here’s the question: 91,000 people may pack the Coliseum for a preseason NFL game just to check out the shiny new toy, but how many will actually show up in Week 16 to watch a team with a 3-11 record?
Eric He is a sophomore majoring in print and digital journalism. He is also the sports editor of the Daily Trojan. His column, “Grinding Gears,” runs Wednesdays.