Dan Pompei

The Los Angeles Rams.

Has a nice ring to it.

But it might not sound quite as appealing to Roger Goodell. Sure, getting a team in Los Angeles has been one of his primary focuses. In fact, Goodell was charged with the L.A. situation for years before he even was commissioner of the NFL.

And if a team were to move to the city of Angels, what better team than the Rams, who played there for 48 years? The Rams don’t have particularly deep roots in St. Louis, which has been their home only since 1995.

But the NFL would much rather have a team in Los Angeles without losing one in St. Louis. The league tried for many years to get a team in St. Louis after the Cardinals headed west. St. Louis is a big enough city with enough passion in the stands to justify having an NFL team of its own.

The NFL would rather see an expansion team in L.A., or a team move there from a market that has proven incapable of necessary support. It would make more sense, for instance, for the Jaguars to be uprooted than the Rams.

But really, this is more about stadiums than about market size or passion levels. And until Los Angeles is able to come up with a feasible plan that would entice a team to call it home, there will be no NFL in the nation’s second largest city. The Coliseum won't cut it.

It is inconceivable that a potential owner would foot the bill for a new stadium in L.A., which probably would run upwards of $1 billion, and then also buy the Rams. Forbes recently valued the St. Louis franchise at $929 million. Sixty percent of the team is for sale, so the new owner would have to spend roughly $557 million to purchase the team.

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How many people would be capable of financing a $1.5 billion deal in this economic climate? And who would be crazy enough to try?

One of the reasons there is talk about the Rams moving is their stadium situation in St. Louis isn’t the greatest. And conveniently, the Rams have an out. Their contract with the St. Louis Convention and Vistors Commission allows the Rams to walk in 2015 if the Edward Jones Dome does not rank among the top eight stadiums in the NFL.

The dome currently is being renovated to the tune of $30 million, but that still won’t put Rams’ home in the same class as many of the NFL’s other stadiums.

The chances of another stadium being built for the Rams in St. Louis by Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer are not good. So it’s probably the Edward Jones Dome or nothing if the Rams don’t move to another city.

Current owner Chip Rosenbloom originally appeared to be intent on selling the Rams to an owner who would keep the team in town. But then he reportedly opened it up to owners from other cities because there wasn’t enough interest from local groups.

Since that time, St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts has stepped forward as a potential buyer according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Checketts would be the ideal solution. He probably would have to depend on a lot of help from his friends to put the cash together, but he has proven to be a decent sports owner based on his NHL experience.

What is best for the NFL is best for the Rams — and that means keeping Los Angeles in their rearview mirror.

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