The Los Angeles Rams fan experience doesn't seem to be too great
The Los Angeles Rams had their first regular-season home game on Sunday. They even got a win, albeit in an ugly 9-3 game. From afar it looked like a great day there.
But it seems like not everything was so wonderful for the crowd at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
There was a fight in the stands, which went viral. There was one of those at the preseason opener too. The Rams can’t necessarily get rid of all of those; booze and testosterone will result in a few fights at a lot of NFL games (it’s really hard to figure out why some folks would rather stay home, avoid the insane parking prices and watch on their 70-inch TV, huh?).
But the overall fan experience seems to have had some flaws. And the Rams can control that.
The most troubling thing is that the Coliseum ran out of water for the fans on a very hot day.
“They ran out of water at four different booths we went to and people were very angry,” Rams fan Tracy Smith told the CBS affiliate in Los Angeles. ” At no point did they run out of beer.”
Smith also told CBS there was fighting in the bathroom, and it didn’t seem to her like there were enough people working at the concession stands.
The water issue was reported elsewhere too, by Deadspin from a fan they identified only as “Jessica.”
“I went to the Seahawks Rams game yesterday and it was the worst experience I’ve ever had at a stadium,” Jessica wrote to Deadspin. “You couldn’t move around the concession area. It was 90 degrees but they managed to run out of almost everything at most concession stands including beer and WATER. My friend walked by a guy having a heat stroke and they couldn’t get him water.”
Deadspin mentioned many other similar complaints from fans about the Coliseum experience.
The Rams told CBS that the Coliseum, which is 93 years old, only has one warehouse so it’s tough to keep the concession stands stocked. The Coliseum general manager told CBS they were overwhelmed with the crowd of about 91,000. Those excuses ring pretty hollow.
The Rams can’t control anything, especially how hot it was (about 160 fans were treated for heat exhaustion, CBS 2 said), but it’s fairly inexcusable for an NFL team to put forth such an unsatisfying fan experience, especially at the prices they charge. The NFL made about $13 billion last year. Rams owner Stan Kroenke is worth about $8 billion, according to Forbes. And the Coliseum ran out of water and other concessions?
Whatever the Rams and the NFL need to do to improve the situation, they better do it fast. The team still has two more seasons after this one in the old Coliseum, before the Rams move into their plush digs in Inglewood. Other than beating the Seattle Seahawks on the field, it doesn’t seem like there was a whole lot for Rams fans to be impressed with at the regular-season opener.
More L.A. Rams coverage on Yahoo Sports:
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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