Inglewood Approves Rams Owner Stan Kroenke's Plans for NFL Stadium in LA

The NFL looks ready for a return to Los Angeles after plans were approved by Inglewood City Council to build a state-of-the-art football stadium. St. Louis Rams owner, Stan Kroenke, is a partner in Stockbridge Capital, which part-owns the site for which the plans were approved.

As noted by the Associated Press, via ESPN.com, the council approved plans for the $2 billion facility by a unanimous 5-0 vote. The lopsided ballot means the project will not be put to a public vote, thus sidestepping the prospect of lengthy reviews and speeding up the entire process.

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Kroenke looks poised to bring the Rams back to LA.

Here’s a mock-up of how the stadium is expected to look, per Sports Illustrated:

The immediacy with which work can begin is crucial for Kroenke, especially after it was revealed that the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders were both pondering the prospect of a shared stadium in Carson if neither get the requisite reassurances from their home towns regarding new venues.

According to the piece, work will begin in December and the stadium should be ready for the start of the 2018 season.

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There are plenty excited by the prospect of the Rams' return to California.

With Kroenke involved in the project, the obvious assumption is that the Rams could end up moving to Los Angeles in the near future. Arash Markazi of ESPN.com looked at what this would potentially mean for the franchise in the short-term:

But as noted by Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News, the Inglewood Mayor James Butts has advised him that the construction of the stadium will go ahead at the end of the year regardless of whether the Rams are on board:

The stadium will be constructed at the site of the old Hollywood Park Casino and will boast a capacity of 80,000. As noted by Sam Farmer and Roger Vincent of the Los Angeles Times, the land is owned by Stockbridge Capital, a company of which Kroenke harbours a stake in.

For the Rams, a potential return to Los Angeles will surely stir mixed emotions. The team won one national and four conference championships during their time in California between 1946 and 1994 but volatile circumstances prompted by perennial stadium issues paved the way for a move to St. Louis in 1995.

Doug Pizac/Associated Press

The LA Rams in action against the New England Patriots in 1994.

Given Kroenke’s involvement in this project, it seems a case of when and not if the Rams’ switch back to Los Angeles is confirmed. As noted by Jason La Canfora of CBS earlier in the week, things could well get better for business entrepreneur too:

The unanimous council vote means this process can be fast-tracked and, for the residents of Los Angeles, having the NFL back in situ is a tantalising prospect. You suspect St. Louis will do as much as possible to try to preserve the Rams’ stay in Missouri, but it seems that the wheels are already in motion on this.

While some residents of Los Angeles will be disappointed this hasn't gone to a public vote, the return of the NFL to the area will bring myriad positives. As noted by ESPN.com, investigations into environmental issues yielded no obvious concerns, while it's thought the stadium will create 10,000 jobs and a sizeable jolt in new tax revenue.