$2.66 billion. That is what the new Los Angeles Rams stadium will cost. This massive facility is expected to be valued as the most expensive stadium in the world and is worth almost three times as much as the Met Life Stadium in New Jersey. The announcement of the St. Louis Rams moving to L.A. has rejuvenated football in the Golden State and you can bet that all eyes will be on the “NFL Disney World” upon its expected completion in 2019. It will be part of a proposed “NFL City” complex that will include the stadium and will also be able to host the NFL Draft, NFL Combine, and the NFL Pro Bowl. This enormous complex will include a champions plaza, retail and office space, a hotel and housing. It could also host the Super Bowl as early as 2020 which could possibly generate anywhere between $200 million to half a billion dollars in revenue. That’s almost a fifth of what it cost to build the stadium. And let’s not forget the amount of publicity this franchise would receive just because-

a) There would be a celebrity spotted in every seat in the lower bowl.

b) The city of Los Angeles is tired of watching the Clippers choke in the playoffs every season and need a new team to get excited about.

c) We are talking about a venue that is going to have a massive bidding war between major sports sponsors for naming rights.

The City of Champions Stadium is a privately financed facility that could be home to not only the LA Rams, but also the Los Angeles Chargers. It almost just seems like a Californian sports tradition to share a stadium (I’m referring to the Staples Center that is home to the LA Lakers and LA Clippers). As of right now, the naming rights to the stadium are still to be decided but I can only imagine the amount of bidding wars that are going to take place before the induction of City of Champions Stadium. With the Los Angeles Rams being in the NFC West, they are rivals against teams that receive an enormous amount of national TV exposure. As division opponents, the Rams will face the Seahawks, 49ers, and Cardinals once at home every season and this could really benefit the franchise’s naming rights deal as long as they put together a winning product on the field in front of a nationally televised crowd. For example, AT&T inked a naming rights deal with the Dallas Cowboys in 2012 of $19 million annually. That season, the Cowboys finished with a 8-8 record. Since AT&T owned the naming rights to the stadium, they spent $2.375 million per win to get their name on the stadium. Similarly, it’ll be interesting to see which company receives the bid to ink a naming rights deal with the Rams in its brand new vicinity.

Another benefit that the franchise can take advantage of is its location. With Hollywood right down the street, numerous stakes will be bought out by countless celebrities and this could also be a great marketing strategy for the Rams. For example, lets use the Toronto Raptors and their signing of Drake as the new team ambassador. He has helped the Raptors lure prized free agents to Toronto over the recent off-seasons and reignited Raptor basketball to a whole another level. Besides the product that the Raptors front office has put on the court, Drake is the sole reason Toronto is selling out home games at a historical rate. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Rams signed Mark Wahlberg as their head athletic trainer or Angelina Jolie as head cheerleader to entice free agents to L.A.

The St. Louis Rams’ move to Los Angeles has created major headlines in the sports world. From a fan’s perspective, this restores faith in the hearts of millions who had to watch their team move to St. Louis in 1994. From a business perspective, this move is going to generate a serious amount of revenue not only for the franchise, but also for the league. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. The Rams are nowhere close to winning a Super Bowl or even making a playoff run anytime soon considering their division, but the amount of publicity this franchise is about to receive will be a hot topic in conversations between sports fanatics. Embrace yourselves, folks. It’s going to be one hell of a season!