Los Angeles Fans Still Haven’t Embraced the Rams

The NFL returned to Los Angeles last season when the Rams relocated from St. Louis to Los Angeles. At first, there was a lot of excitement about football returning to Los Angeles, which was evident by the sold out crowds that attended games when the Rams got off to a fast start.

By the end of the season, the Rams only won four games, which led to empty seats in the stadium. In week 1, when the team kicked off its season with a thumping of the Indianapolis Colts, the fans apparently weren’t as excited as they were last year as there were plenty of empty seats in the stadium during the game.

With the Chargers also moving to Los Angeles this season, the question is will the fans show up to support both teams or wait until they start winning games to show any interest. Despite the lack of interest by fans in Los Angeles, there are a lot of football fans excited about the NFL betting odds for both LA teams.

On Sunday, the Rams listed attendance at the Los Angeles Coliseum, which seats 93,000 people as 60,128. However, the pictures that were circulated in the media showed the stadium was at best half full.

Granted, the size of the Coliseum would make 30,000 fans look more like 2,000 fans.

Even if there were 30,000 fans in attendance, that isn’t a number the NFL is accustomed to seeing on Sundays. Heck even average college football teams draw more fans to their stadiums.

What makes the lack of interest in the team even more surprising to the NFL is the fact that Los Angeles is the second biggest market in the country, and the city had been clamoring for a team since Al Davis took his Raiders back to Oakland.

The quality of play has a part in the lack of attendance, but a city that hasn’t had a team to root for in over two decades, finally has one but nobody wants to watch them play.

Two years ago, a reporter went to Los Angeles in search of fans that were excited to have an NFL team return to town. The reporter went to a few hot spots and bars, and even though the Rams were on television, none of the televisions in the sports bar was tuned to the game.

As one fan explained to the reporter, Los Angeles has been without football for over 20 years, so most of the people that were Rams fans back then have already found another team to root for and aren’t really interested in the Rams.

Despite the lack of local support for both teams, don’t expect the owners or the league to attempt to relocate the teams again. The bottom line for them is that even with poor attendance numbers, the teams are worth far more than they were when they were still in St. Louis and San Diego.

The fact that the teams play in the nation’s second biggest city and the Rams are getting a new $2.6 billion stadium, significantly increases the value of the teams.

The good thing about Los Angeles is the fact that the fans love going with trends and rooting for good teams. The Rams look like they might be a playoff contender very soon, and if they keep winning, the fans will eventually return to the stadium.

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