[PARAM]

Some good points being made. No football team in LA for about 2 decades is a big one.
But also....it's LA... entertainment capital of the world essentially.
So, many of those tix are snatched up by businesses or used for promotional shit, etc.

If I was from out of town, I would damn sure make the game a part of vacation plans.
Fly in... stay at a nice hotel, see the sights, hit the beach, maybe Disneyland, then the game to watch my team on Sunday. You think folks are falling over themselves trying to book a trip to Baltimore to see their team play? How about Green Bay or Cleveland? Hell no.

I know that's the accepted reality but I'm curious about one thing......when the Raiders played in L.A., did their games fill with opposing fans? I know it was 3 decades ago and a lot of things change but L.A.'s excuse has always been "so many OTHER things to do".

[UtahRam]

The 49ers, Raiders, Steelers and Cowboys have a lot more fans than the RAMS do.

Before the clown costume change I collected RAMS memorabilia for 40+ years. There were some collectibles not available for a tiny minority of teams and many times the RAMS were one of them.
I remember watching some shopping channel (QVC or HSN maybe) back in the St Louis days and they were offering a really cool NFL parka or jacket or something and I'm sitting there waiting to see what the RAMS design looked like on the jacket and at the end they said they didn't have the RAMS and that wasn't because it was sold out...lol I think the Jaguars were missing also.
I doubt this changes in our lifetime.

[azramsfan93]

I don't know that this is any consolation, but it's not just the Rams. It's happening more and more around the league.

I watched the Lions at Cardinals game and saw tons of Lions fans on TV. I mean, it's no surprise that there would be a number of opposing fans at the Cardinals' stadium, but who knew that Detroit fans traveled that well?

Most of the Lions fans at Cardinals games are Michiganders living in AZ. There are tons of them, and I know a few myself. We have Detroit Pizza restaurants here.

You know why they move to AZ? Michigan is a great place to be FROM - just like Chicago, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

[HarRam]

From my observations, not only as a Rams fan, but a non-native fan and now living in the DC area and watching the same fan attendance play out here for the Commanders, there are several good reasons why you have the away team's fans in substantial, if not majority attendance.

First, there were a number of years, from the early 90's through 1994 where the Rams did not field a good team; they were perennial losers. They stiffed their fan base by moving from the Coliseum to Anaheim; then Georgia stiffed them again, stealing off and running to St. Louis, where they stayed for 20 years; when they returned, they again were a losing franchise. So, there wasn't much to cheer for or to draw a fan base. In the years between, the Raiders had briefly been in LA, played in the Coliseum and won a Super Bowl--so naturally they filled the void and won the young fan base. Also, starting in the early 90's, SF became a solid winning franchise, winning several Super Bowls--so again, attracting the younger fan base.

Now that the Rams are back and winning will start to generate a solid fan base among the younger fans who haven't already formed an allegiance to a team. But it takes time and not until they nag their parents into taking them to games or getting old and wealthy enough themselves to afford their own tickets and transportation will they start attending games.

But, in the meantime, with the phase out of the black-out rule, home fans who can go to one of 8 or 9 home games do not have the incentive to attend, while the visiting teams fan base may only get to see their team once a year or once every four years, so they have a greater incentive to attend. That's the way it is here in DC. They used to be a perennial winner, to where they've changed names twice, they have had number of off-field issues and a nasty change in ownership. It's gone from where the waiting list to get season's tickets was years long, to where the games are never sold out, even after closing significant portions of the seating, and where it's a home game for every visiting team, whose fans equal or outnumber the Commanders' fans. So, in that regard, SoFi Stadium is not unlike other home fields. It's going to take time, winning and cultivating the youngsters to get where the Rams have true home field advantage.

[St. Loser Fan]

Yeah, I'm getting real tired of LA fans pulling shit the St. Louis fans used to pull.

St. Louis' support was perfectly fine until 3-13, 2-14, 1-15, 7-9 and 3-13.

I'm also tired of it. LA is the rich kid who took the toy from the poor kid and then barely plays with it. You could have at least backed up your "St. Louis fans suck" talk by supporting the Rams.

From my observations, not only as a Rams fan, but a non-native fan and now living in the DC area and watching the same fan attendance play out here for the Commanders, there are several good reasons why you have the away team's fans in substantial, if not majority attendance.

First, there were a number of years, from the early 90's through 1994 where the Rams did not field a good team; they were perennial losers.

Let's not forget that during this period the LA Rams consistently ranked 23rd to 28th (out of 28) in attendance.

It's amazing what happens when you have a losing team + bad owner + bad venue.

[St. Loser Fan]

Side note: anyone looking for a good Rams road trip game this year, check out that December 1st game against the Saints. The tickets are reasonably priced, the Superdome is newly renovated, New Orleans is always fun and the weather should be nice.

[PARAM]

St. Louis' support was perfectly fine until 3-13, 2-14, 1-15, 7-9 and 3-13.

I'm also tired of it. LA is the rich kid who took the toy from the poor kid and then barely plays with it. You could have at least backed up your "St. Louis fans suck" talk by supporting the Rams.

I was there for Washington (2005), Kansas City (2006) and Atlanta (2007). Let's take 2006....Rams were 4-3 with a new head coach and the stands were FILLED with Chiefs fans. This after 5 playoff years of the last 7. I get it. It's the show me state. Middle America. Where the bucks are hard earned and shouldn't be squandered. But I've always been of the mind, if you're a fan of a team, you're a fan whether they're 13-3 or 3-13. I could have at least supported the Rams? I came almost 1,000 miles to see a team that went 6-10, 8-8 and 3-13. Like I've said many times (living in Eagles country), Philly fans gets a lot of abuse, much well deserved. But they don't sell their tickets, there are very few opposition fans in attendance and Eagles fans pay to boo the team into improving. The St. Louis fanbase played their cards their way.....show me. So the Rams went back to L.A.. They got a gift from GF after losing their first NFL team. And what did they do? Lost their second. If you're gonna gamble on your cards, better have a strong hand. Rhey didn't.

This by no means is meant to blame the St. Louis fans who showed up no matter what the record was. But they were far and few between.

[St. Loser Fan]

I was there for Washington (2005), Kansas City (2006) and Atlanta (2007). Let's take 2006....Rams were 4-3 with a new head coach and the stands were FILLED with Chiefs fans. This after 5 playoff years of the last 7.

I remember that Chiefs game because I sold my tickets at a very good profit. It was the first time I did online resale. IIRC face value was $57 at the time. I "moon shot" listed them at $180 and got it. Felt bad doing it, but took the $600 net profit. The only other time I did that was Brett Favre's last season when the Packers came to town and I sold my tickets for $275 each.

You have to understand that Kansas City has pretty much nothing sports-wise besides the Chiefs. The don't have hockey, they don't have basketball (not even college) and barely support baseball. So the Chiefs fans travel well in the midwest and coming to St. Louis is an easy 4 hour shot.

But I've always been of the mind, if you're a fan of a team, you're a fan whether they're 13-3 or 3-13. I could have at least supported the Rams?

You're talking to a ride or die guy. I went to pretty much every single game home game and always did one road trip game a season. During those 5 bad seasons you want to know how many Rams wins I saw in person? I'm pretty sure 6. Nearly 40 games attended and I saw 6 wins.

It didn't help that the Edward Jones Dome was a dump. There was nothing worse that being outside on a nice fall day and then having to go inside to a windowless tomb to watch bad nearly guaranteed loss football. And a lot of other fans decided to spend their sports dollars elsewhere.

Like I've said many times (living in Eagles country), Philly fans gets a lot of abuse, much well deserved. But they don't sell their tickets, there are very few opposition fans in attendance and Eagles fans pay to boo the team into improving.

Philly has built a great "Maginot Line" by being loud, obnoxious and behaving stereotypically. Hardly anybody is going to travel to Eagles games as an opposing fan because they know it's going to be a miserable experience. Booing Santa plus throwing batteries has gone a long way and I give them props for that.

The St. Louis fanbase played their cards their way.....show me. So the Rams went back to L.A.. They got a gift from GF after losing their first NFL team. And what did they do? Lost their second. If you're gonna gamble on your cards, better have a strong hand. They didn't.

It was sort of a gift. Remember that the NFL handshake promised St. Louis a team if we built a new stadium. We did just that and the NFL reneged on their deal by giving teams to Carolina and Jacksonville. Was it our fault that LA wouldn't give Georgia what she wanted and we had a stadium sitting empty? Were we just supposed to say "We don't want to hurt the feelings of LA Rams fans" and left the dome empty?

Plus the assumption was football would return almost immediately to LA. How was St. Louis supposed to know the market would be left empty for two decades?

No, we didn't have a strong hand. Could St. Louis have better supported the Rams? Absolutely and we paid the price. We lost and LA won. St. Louis will never have pro football ever again and that makes you the winner. Congratulations.

[HarRam]

One thing Eagles fans have that other franchises do not, is that the Eagles have stayed in Philadelphia no matter what, through thick or thin. They've been loyal to their fan base and their fan base reciprocates.

The same can be said for the Steelers. During the 50's, 60's and into the early 70's they sucked--losers. But the team stayed and when they finally found the winning formula, the fanbase reciprocated.

Same for the Cheeseheads. They were a losing franchise until Vince Lombardi saved the franchise. When he left and they fell back to losing, the team didn't move--or threaten to move. They stayed. And, so have their fans.

[rams74]

Same for the Cheeseheads. They were a losing franchise until Vince Lombardi saved the franchise. When he left and they fell back to losing, the team didn't move--or threaten to move. They stayed. And, so have their fans.

Sorry, you can't include the Packers in this argument. They have been publicly owned by the community since 1923. Where we they going to go?