In 1995, the Rams moved from Los Angeles to St. Louis. In 1999 they won the Super Bowl. And now in 2016, they are headed back to L.A., leaving the Kansas City Chiefs Missouri's sole NFL team.
Since 2002, the owner of the Rams, StanKroenke, has expressed dissatisfaction with the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. In 2015, in an effort to keep the Rams in St. Louis, Gov. Jay Nixon started a stadium task force that proposed a $1 billion stadium along the Mississippi River near the Gateway Arch. That stadium will never exist.
Instead, Kroenke will take his Rams to L.A. (Inglewood, to be exact) where he plans on building a $1.8 billion stadium.
Now that St. Louis is without an NFL team, many Missourians are wondering where St. Louis football fans will send their devotion.
The Kansas City Chiefs' back-up quarterback Chase Daniels has fans across the state — he nearly led the Missouri Tigers to a National Championship game in 2007. He took to Twitter Tuesday to find out what the Rams' move meant for his Chiefs.
So...did we just get a bunch of fans from the Eastern side of the state?!
— Chase Daniel (@ChaseDaniel) January 13, 2016
@ChaseDaniel Gonna be hard to wear red, but good luck this weekend. #stlouisproud
— steve craig (@stevethecraig) January 13, 2016
@ChaseDaniel I'm definitely rooting for Missouri success in the NFL. Gotta rep my state and university players.
— Nathan Smith (@wbfresh90) January 13, 2016
@ChaseDaniel Wish you well...always...but I can't switch loyalties that easily. Sorry.
— Mike's StL Baseball (@stlcardshistory) January 13, 2016
@ChaseDaniel your owner voted against STL and you expect more fans from there? C'mon Chase, STL loves you and J-Mac, but thats it
— Nate Smith (@NTG_Smith) January 13, 2016
@ChaseDaniel I wear red all year!! #STLCards #KCChiefs
— Jeff Griswold (@sparkygriz) January 13, 2016
@ChaseDaniel false...would rather be a @ChicagoBears fan then a @Chiefs fan. #STL
— Doug Yocco (@DougYocco) January 13, 2016
Royals’ super-fan SungWoo Lee could feel the shift in the world of Missouri sports all the way from Seoul, South Korea. He also took to Twitter to find out what would happen now.
Rams are out of St.Louis to move to LA... then Chiefs are the team of all Missouri ppl??? #ChiefsKingdom https://t.co/1J5IlgRBbW
— Sungwoo Lee (@Koreanfan_KC) January 13, 2016
@Koreanfan_KC Chiefs Kingdom extends through the Midwest, from Kansas to Illinois and Iowa to Arkansas! Goooo Chiefs!!!!
— Fully Stimulated Pine Tar Guy (@Royalfan83) January 13, 2016
@Koreanfan_KC Chiefs or some become Chicago Bears fans again.
— Ben Mitchum (@Coach_MitchumBC) January 13, 2016
@Koreanfan_KC the Arizona Cardinals were STL's football team years ago. Some still cheer for them, too.
— LeAnn: Kansan. American. (Adopted) Aussie. (@prairiegirl0028) January 13, 2016
@Koreanfan_KC @KCTV5 can't imagine St Louis will become KC fans. Too big of a rivalry.
— Sherry Peck (@shortrest) January 13, 2016
And while many chime in all over the internet, some Chiefs fans are too focused on this Saturday’s play-off game versus the New England Patriots to care:
Naturally I would really care about the Rams moving but I have more important things to worry about #ChiefsKingdom #Playoffs
— Chris Smith (@ChiefsSTM) January 13, 2016
Regardless of where St. Louis fans' loyalties end up, the Rams are sure to gain some new followers — at least some of the estimated 3.66 million NFL fans in the Los Angeles area.
Kyle J Smith is an intern for KCUR's digital team. You can find him on Twitter, @kjs_37.