The The Baltimore Colts relocation to Indianapolis was a successful effort by the Baltimore Colts (Robert Irsay) owner at the time to move the American soccer team from Baltimore, Maryland to Indianapolis, Indiana. The team started playing as the Indianapolis Colts for the 1984 National Football League (NFL) season. The Colts' move was completely unannounced and occurred in the early hours of March 29, 1984, after years of lobbying for a new stadium to replace the inadequate Memorial Stadium. The franchise step continued to confiscate many of Baltimore's original inhabitants a decade later, and will have lasting impact on the NFL, including another controversial relocation twelve years later which resulted in Baltimore receiving the current NFL team, Ravens.
Video Baltimore Colts relocation to Indianapolis
Actions leading to steps
Although the Colts have been successful since arriving in Baltimore for the 1953 NFL season, Memorial Stadium is claimed to be inadequate for both Major League Baseball and Baltimore Orioles. In May 1969, the city of Baltimore announced it would seek a substantial increase in the cost of renting the Memorial Stadium from Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom and the team itself. Rosenbloom has been called the "ancient" Memorial Stadium and has threatened to move all the Colts home games out of the stadium unless repairs are made. Rosenbloom is even considering using $ 12-20 million of its own money to help fund the construction of a new football stadium just on land next to Baltimore County. In November 1971, Rosenbloom announced that the Colts would not return to the Memorial Stadium when their lease expired after the 1972 season and that he was not interested in negotiating with the city again. He wants to get out of Baltimore for several reasons - team income, problems with ownership of Baltimore Orioles related to the Memorial Stadium income, the feud that runs with the Baltimore press, and his new wife's desire to move to the West Coast. Real estate investor Will Keland was originally scheduled to buy Colts from Rosenbloom. Keland could not generate enough funds to buy the team, but his golf buddy Robert Irsay, who initially had only 1 percent of the team, did have the necessary funds and moved to make a purchase. On July 13, 1972, Irsay became owner of the Colts. Under conditions of arrangement, he bought Los Angeles Rams for $ 19 million, then traded it to Rosenbloom for the Colts and $ 3 million in cash.
In 1971, Baltimore mayor William Donald Schaefer and state governor Marvin Mandel set up a stadium committee to examine the needs of the city stadium. Their report is a blow to the Memorial Stadium. Some of the problems mentioned: 10,000 stadium seats have a bad view of the field; 20,000 seats are outdated bench seats and have no back support; 7,000 seats are poorly built temporary seats that are installed only for football matches. Also, there is not enough office space for front office either Orioles or Colts, let alone a combination of both teams. Both teams had to share a locker room, the upper deck of the Memorial Stadium did not surround the field, and ended up in the 50 yard line. Any expansion plans for the stadium usually mention the less-attractive (and less expensive) end-zone positions, not the upper deck seating. Lastly, the number of bathroom facilities at the Memorial Stadium is considered inadequate.
Baltodome Project
Maryland planners appear with ambitious projects. Dubbed the Baltodome, the original plan was to create a facility near the Inner Harbor town known as Camden Yards. The new stadium will accommodate 70,000 fans for soccer games, 55,000 for baseball, and 20,000 as an arena for hockey or basketball. For about $ 78 million, the city will build facilities that will make everyone happy; Owner Orioles Hoffberger, owner of Colts Irsay, Stadium Complex Authority (Chairman Edmond Rovner asserted in 1972 that "The main consideration in Mr. Irsay's franchise trade is the city's corporate commitment to continue this plan."), Mayor Baltimore Schaefer, and state governor , Marvin Mandel.
But the proposal does not receive support to legitimize the Maryland legislature, despite assurances that the contribution of taxpayers will be limited in limited lending to municipalities and states. On February 27, 1974, the Governor of Maryland Mandel revoked the idea. The owner of Orioles, Jerold Hoffberger, said: "I will bow to the will of the people They have told us what they want to say to us First they do not want a new garden and second, they do not want the club." Robert Irsay is willing to wait. "It's not a matter of saying that there will not be a stadium.This is a matter of gathering facts together so everyone is happy when they build a stadium.I am a patient man.I think Baltimore people will see their new stadium in New Orleans and Seattle open in a year or two across the country, and they will realize that they need a stadium... for conventions and other things besides football. "
But Hyman Pressman, Baltimore's financial superintendent, opposes the use of public funds to build a new stadium. During the 1974 election, Pressman had amendments to the city charter placed on a falling vote. Known as the P Question, the amendment calls for "33rd Street stadiums as a warning to war veterans and prohibits the use of city funds for the construction of other stadiums." This measure passes from 56 percent to 44 percent, and the same political motivation that has been used to improve the Baltimore Stadium was then, originally built in 1922, in the late 1940s and renamed the Memorial Stadium, effectively destroying every new modern sporting opportunity. complex is being built in Baltimore.
1975-1980
Although the Colts made playoffs for three consecutive years from 1975 to 1977, still no progress has been made in the new park for the team. Robert Irsay first spoke to Phoenix, Arizona in 1976 and then Indianapolis, Indiana in 1977 about the possibility of moving his team to one of these cities. In 1976, he publicly acknowledged that he had received an interesting offer to move the franchise to Phoenix, Arizona. Then, in 1977, he said, "I love Baltimore and want to live there, but when will we find something about our stadium? I get offers from cities like Indianapolis to build a new stadium and give me another persuasion to move I do not want to but I want to see some action in Baltimore. "In 1979, Hoffberger sold the Orioles to a Washington DC lawyer Edward Bennett Williams, who declared the year 1980 as a trial year for Baltimore fans. He then went on to explain his concerns with the Memorial Stadium, saying it had "inadequate parking and inadequate access and a way out." Frankly, I do not know if those problems will be solved at that location. Irsay began shopping Colts around in earnest, speaking first to officials from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission, Memphis, Tennessee, and Jacksonville, Florida where he visited the Gator Bowl packed with 50,000 cheering fans trying to convince him that Jacksonville would be the best. home to the Colts. In the same year Irsay presented Maryland Governor Harry Hughes with a request of $ 25 million in renovations to the 64,124 seat Memorial Stadium. Irsay's demand for $ 25 million in repairs decreased to $ 23 million by the Maryland legislature. The plan adds more seating (but no income-generating skybox), improves the plumbing and will provide better office space to both teams. Approval of the plan depends on both Colts and Baltimore Orioles signing long-term leases. The Orioles challenged the requested football repairs and refused to sign anything over a one-year lease. Irsay also refused to sign a long-term contract. As a result, funds and repairs never come.
Maps Baltimore Colts relocation to Indianapolis
Relocation to Indianapolis
Under the reign of Mayor (and future US Senator) Richard Lugar and then continue with successor William Hudnut, the City of Indianapolis is making a serious effort to transform itself into "Great American City." In 1979, Indianapolis community leaders created Indiana Sports Corp. to attract major sporting events to central Indiana. The following year, Indianapolis Mayor William Hudnut appointed the committee to study the feasibility of building a new stadium that could serve primarily as a boon for the city convention business and, secondly, as a lure for the NFL team.
Construction of Hoosier Dome begins
In 1982, the construction of Hoosier Dome (later renamed RCA Dome) began. Deputy Mayor David Frick, who then heads the negotiations with the Colts and later becomes Indiana state commission chairman who will oversee the construction of RCA Dome's replacement, Lucas Oil Stadium, will say that the RCA Dome is the key to changing the city's image. "Sport is an element in our game plan to transform the city's image back in the late 1970s, early 1980s."
In February 1983, after the relationship between Irsay and the city of Baltimore had deteriorated significantly, Mayor Baltimore Schaefer asked the Maryland General Assembly to approve $ 15 million for renovations to the Memorial Stadium. The legislature does not approve the request until the following spring, after the Colts contract runs out, and only half of the $ 15 million will be used for repairs the Colts seek (the other half for the Orioles). However, Baltimore reportedly offered a $ 6 million loan to Irsay at 6.5%, a guarantee of at least 43,000 tickets sold per game over six years, and the purchase of a $ 4 million Owings Mills training facility.
Negotiations with Phoenix and Indianapolis
On March 2, 1984, the NFL owner chose to grant permission to Irsay to move the franchise to his chosen city. Irsay continued discussions with several cities thirsting for the NFL franchise (New York City, Phoenix, Arizona, Indianapolis, Indiana, Birmingham, Alabama, Jacksonville, Florida, and Memphis, Tennessee) that eventually narrowed down the city list into two, Phoenix and Indianapolis. In January 1984, the mayor of Baltimore Schaefer stated, "We are not going to build a new stadium We have no bonding capacity We have no voters or taxpayers who can support the stadium $ 60 million One third of the people in Baltimore pay taxes Except a private company built it, we will not build it. "The Phoenix Metropolitan Sports Foundation, led by real estate developer Eddie Lynch, along with Arizona Governor Bruce Babbitt and other Arizona top officials, has secretly met with Irsay in early January 1984. Initial talks looks promising. Phoenix offers a market price of under $ 15 million in loan and lease free usage of 71,000 Sun Devil Stadium seats on the campus of Arizona State University. (Sun Devil Stadium will serve as a home for the Arizona Cardinals from 1988 to 2005 after the team moved there from St. Louis, Missouri, the team has since moved to the Phoenix University Stadium in that market.) The second meeting is scheduled between Irsay and the Phoenix group. But when the said second scheduled meeting was leaked and reported by the media on Friday before the Super Bowl, Irsay was canceled. Meanwhile, Indianapolis and local real estate developer Robert Welch, lobbying the NFL to bring the expansion team to the city, with Welch as team owners. Welch also had a private discussion with New Orleans Saints owner John Mecom about buying a team and moving him to Indianapolis.
In January 1984, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle announced that the expansion had been postponed. As a result of the announcement, Indiana Pacers owner Herb Simon contacted the Colts officials to take negotiations between the club and Indianapolis to the next level. Mayor Hudnut then commissioned deputy mayor David Frick to start secret negotiations with Colts advisor Michael Chernoff. On February 13, Colts representatives came to town to see the construction of Hoosier Dome. The owner of the Colts, Robert Irsay, visited on 23 February. "He [Irsay] seemed to be moving," said former deputy mayor Dave Frick, commenting on Irsay's reaction to enter the new domed stadium. "Emotionally, he moves."
Meanwhile, in Baltimore, the Maryland State Legislature is involved in a dispute. On March 27, 1984, the Maryland Senate passed a law that gave the city of Baltimore the right to seize Colts ownership by a leading domain, a first idea posted in a memo written by Baltimore mayor Mark Wasserman. Robert Irsay says that his move is a "direct result" of a prominent domain bill. Chernoff would say a move by the Maryland legislature: "They not only threw the challenge, but they put the gun to his head and tipped him and asked, 'Want to see if it's loaded?' They forced her to make a decision that day. "
March 29, 1984
On March 28, 1984, due to the actions of the Maryland Senate, the Phoenix group withdrew its offer. That afternoon, Irsay paid a call to Mayor Hudnut and the city of Indianapolis offered the owner of Colts $ 12.5 million loan, $ 4 million training complex, and brand new usage of $ 77.5 million, 57,980 seats Hoosier Dome. Irsay agrees, which arranges the sequence of events into a movement that will bring the movement.
After he got off the phone with Irsay, Hudnut called his neighbor and his friend, John B. Smith, after the deal was over. Smith is chief executive officer of the Mayflower Transit, a moving company in Indiana, and Hudnut asked him to help the team in their movement. Smith sent fifteen Mayflower trucks to Owings Mills and they arrived at the Colts facility around 10 pm. The reason for being late from the move was for fear that Delegation Delegation of Maryland would also approve the bill of the leading domain owned by the State Senate, which would result in the team being confiscated the next morning after Maryland Governor Harry Hughes signed the bill into law. The workers loaded all the belongings of the team and the trucks left for Indianapolis. Within eight hours of the arrival of the Mayflower truck at Owings Mills, the Colts were completely gone from Baltimore. Later that day, the House of Delegates indeed passed the bill with a count of 103-19 and Governor Hughes signed it, but by then it was too late.
All fifteen trucks take a different route to Indianapolis from Baltimore, which is done as a diversionary tactic so the Maryland State Police can not postpone them until prominent domain laws are signed (which they can follow after they apply to force the Colts back to Baltimore). As soon as a truck gets to Indiana, Indiana State Police will meet and take it to Indianapolis - a process that is repeated until the fifteen vans have reached their destination. Mayor Indianapolis Hudnut held a press conference March 29 to announce the agreement. The deal was sealed March 30 with approval by the Capital Improvement Agency, which operates the Hoosier Dome. Two days later, 20,000 new Colts fans cheered when Mayor Hudnut declared on March 29, 1984, "one of the greatest days in the city's history." Mayor Baltimore Schaefer appeared in the front yard of Baltimore Sun while weeping. After the Colts leave, and regardless of his previous stance that the city of Baltimore will not build a new stadium, he puts the construction of a new stadium at the top of his legislative agenda. Plans for the new stadium never come down from the ground for the remainder of the mayor's term.
John Moag, Jr., chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority, testified in front of a US Senate subcommittee responsible for the Freedom and Protection Act: "The failure of our local officials (Baltimore) and the selected state of Maryland to provide the Colts with a strong proposal for a new stadium that makes Mr. Irsay accept an offer from Indianapolis to play in the new dome in the city. "
Aftermath
Not only Baltimore Colts fans are heartbroken because of the loss of their team, but they also lost the team name. (Colts are named in honor of the city of Preakness Stakes and Maryland horse farmers.) In that year's election, city voters withdrew Question P by 62 percent to 38 percent. However, the authors of the amendment (Hyman Pressman) remained as City Supervisors elected for 28 years (seven consecutive terms) until retiring in 1991. The team's move triggered a flurry of legal activity, which eventually reached the US Supreme Court and bills filed in the House and Senate US trying to block that step. In December 1985, a US District Court judge dismissed a lawsuit that sought to return the team to Maryland, although the city of Baltimore was allowed to retain the Colts Vince Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl V.
The United States Football League immediately reacted to the move. The 1984 league champion, the Philadelphia Star, moved to Baltimore for the 1985 season to capitalize on the departure of the Colts. Unfortunately for Stars, the Colts, despite leaving the Memorial Stadium, were still able to block Stars from using it, forcing the team to move to the University of Maryland Stadium, closer to Washington, DC and more than 30 miles south of Baltimore.. The glorified "Baltimore Stars" won the 1985 championship as well. Whether the USFL played the proposed fall in 1986, Baltimore, based not against the NFL team in its market, would be part of it, but the league halted operations and eventually folded before the season could take place.
Representatives from Baltimore and the Colts organization reached a settlement in March 1986 in which all lawsuits regarding relocation were dismissed, and the Colts will support the new NFL team for Baltimore.
The Colts' move encourages city and state officials to redouble efforts to retain Baltimore's premier league team, Orioles. Oriole Park at Camden Yards, a baseball-designed facility built near the proposed Baltodome site and opened in 1992. Its classic retro-design is well received and inspires the design of the new MLB stadium over the next twenty years.
One aspect that will remain in Baltimore is the Baltimore Colts Marching Band. According to the documentary ESPN 30 for 30 titled The Band That Would not Die , directed by Baltimore native Barry Levinson, the band leader received an early warning that the team was removed from Baltimore to Indianapolis spent the night and was able to get their equipment out of the team headquarters before the moving van arrived. While on the move, the band uniform is being cleaned. President of the Band John Ziemann contacted the owner of the cleaner cleaner, who was sympathetic, told Ziemann where the uniform was and offered to let Ziemann bring the company van "for a walk". Ziemann and several colleagues then hid the uniform at the nearby cemetery until the then owner's wife, Robert Irsay, said they could keep it. From 1984 until the NFL returned to Baltimore in 1996, the band stayed together, played in football performances and paraded in the parade, eventually becoming famous as the "Pro-Football Baltimore Music Ambassador". The band remains a band that all volunteers like now and support themselves. At one point, John Ziemann mortgaged his wife's wedding ring to earn money to buy new equipment.
Colts Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas, who had settled with his family in Baltimore after his playing career ended, was angered by a move to Indianapolis and severed all ties with the team. Unitas aligned himself with the Ravens when they moved to Baltimore, and the statue of him was placed outside the M & T Bank.
When the Canadian Football League decided to expand into the United States in the mid-1990s, Baltimore was seen as a natural selection for the American CFL team, both because the city was much larger closer to Canada than other expansion team markets but also because of bitterness city ​​(then still) left to the NFL. The Baltimore Stallions were originally named Baltimore CFL Colts, but orders by the NFL forced the name change into Stallions. Even after the name change, the team continued to use logos and colors originally designed for "CFL Colts." After winning the division championship in the first year and then winning the next Gray Cup, the team disbanded after the NFL's return to Baltimore became inevitable. Stallions ownership and front office staff then formed a new "CFL" CFL team in Montreal, Canada, where they can re-sign the Stallions list. The CFL then recognized the "new" Montreal Alouettes to be the resumption of the previous Alouettes franchise that had ceased operations in 1987 and was not a continuation of the Baltimore Stallions.
Ironically, the NFL will return to Baltimore in a way very similar to the way it left off. On November 6, 1995, Cleveland Browns Art Modell owner announced his intention to move Browns to Baltimore for the 1996 NFL season. Like most other sports team volunteers including the Colts, Modell intends to retain Brown's name, color, history, trophies, archives and artifacts another with him to Baltimore for the reinforced Baltimore Browns. Like the Colts movement, Browns' relocation led to lawsuits by City of Cleveland. At the same time, a number of Baltimore soccer fans have strongly rejected Modell's intention to revive his team as "Baltimore Browns." As bad as they want to see the NFL back, they are uneasy at the prospect of taking on the history of Cleveland football in a way that looks similar to how they believe Irsay has taken the Colts heritage with him to Indianapolis.
Finally, Modell agreed to a settlement with the NFL that gave him an "expansion" franchise in Baltimore which would in turn assume the contract of players and Cleveland Browns personnel at the time. However, he was asked to leave Browns names, colors, history, notes, trophies, awards and archives in Cleveland. However, no owner is ready to start a new soccer organization with short notice, and the Cleveland Stadium has been ruled out for even temporary use until a new stadium can be built. With no proper owners or facilities available in Cleveland, the league agreed to allow Browns to officially suspend operations until the 1999 NFL season. That season, Brown resumed operations complete with established names, colors, history, notes, trophies , rewards, and archives. For all intents and purposes, however, they are an expansion team with a list that is stocked primarily through an expansion plan similar to any other North American professional sports team established in the modern era. The last NFL team to completely suspend operations while, incidentally, was also the Cleveland team at the time: Rams, who stopped operations for a year in 1943 because of World War II, moved to Los Angeles in 1946.
Modell's "expansion" franchise in Baltimore will become the Baltimore Ravens, and will later adopt the Colts Marching Band, which in 1998, when the team, which has played its first two seasons at the Memorial Stadium, moved to a new stadium in Camden Yards, renamed Baltimore's Marching Ravens, who continue to perform today.
The last game of the Colts in Baltimore was played on 18 December 1983 against Houston Oilers. The Colts won 20-10. Thirteen years later Oilers will play their last match before moving to Tennessee against the Baltimore Ravens at Memorial Stadium (Tennessee Titans is currently one of the divisions of the Colts division). The Colts will not play another match in Baltimore until 1998. Since then, the Colts have played in Baltimore several times during the regular season (last in 2017). The team has had three play-offs, played two in Baltimore (2006 and 2012), and one in Indianapolis (2009). The Colts won the 2006 game on their way to their first Super Bowl victory since moving to Indianapolis. The Colts also won the 2009 game but lost the 2012 game, in what was the last home game of Ray Lewis. The current rivalry between the two teams supports the Colts (who lead the eleven series of wins to four overall [9-3 in the regular season, and 2-1 in the playoffs]). In every game that Indianapolis played in Baltimore, the scoreboard only recorded the city, Indy, never admitted the team's name, Colts.
Punter Rohn Stark is the last active NFL player to play for the Colts while in Baltimore, retired after the 1997 NFL season. Stark is also the only player playing for the Baltimore Colts and against the Baltimore Ravens (no players have ever played for the Baltimore Colts and the Baltimore Ravens ). Ted Marchibroda was the only person who trained the Baltimore Colts, the Baltimore Ravens, and the Indianapolis Colts.
Since the formation of the Ravens, both teams have won the Super Bowl. The Ravens won the Super Bowl XXXV and Super Bowl XLVII, while the Colts won the Super Bowl XLI and played in Super Bowl XLIV. In the 2015 NFL season, the Colts have now played in Indianapolis longer than Baltimore.
See also
- Relocate a professional sports team
- The History of Baltimore Colts
- The History of the Indianapolis Colts
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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