The St. Louis Rams announced today via their official Twitter account that they will not be playing a select number of home games in London in the 2013-2014 seasons:
The Rams announced today that the Club will not play home games in London in 2013-14 to better focus on First Tier Process in St. Louis.
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) August 13, 2012
A press release from the Rams says that the team will play against the New England Patriots in London on Oct. 28, 2012 as planned.
Previously, the Rams were involved in a back-and-forth with the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission over whether the overseas home games violate the team's lease at the Edward Jones Dome, which the CVC oversees. However, the team and the CVC eventually came to an agreement.
The CVC said in a statement that because that agreement was only for the 2012 season, the Rams' decision not to play in London in 2013 and 2014 does not affect the status of negotiations on the upgrades to the Dome - the "First Tier Process" referred to in the above tweet.
The team's lease requires the Dome to be in the top 25 percent of football stadiums in the country. Otherwise, as we previously reported, the Rams are free to leave St. Louis in 2015.
"...We believe our attention needs to be on the ongoing First Tier process," Kevin Demoff, Rams executive vice president and chief operating officer said in a release. "We have worked closely with the NFL in coming to this decision and remain key supporters of the international series and its’ objectives.”
What does the NFL have to say about all of this?
St. Louis Public Radio was sent this statement from Chris Parsons, NFL Vice President of International:
"We appreciate the Rams support for our international growth strategy. We are currently working to add a second game in the UK, potentially for the 2013 season, in response to the growth in popularity of our sport. We hope to finalize these plans in the months ahead."
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