LA Rams can make SoFi Stadium their stronghold for foreseeable future

The LA Rams had played several games at SoFi Stadium that truly did not feel as though they had the benefit of a home-field advantage. Of course, we are talking about the instances where the LA Rams hosted the San Francisco 49ers in Week 18, and then again when the Rams faced them again in the NFC Championship Game. In those games, the Rams fans were outnumbered by Niners fans.

Even with the Rams’ victory in the NFC Championship Game, the team is standing at a fork in the road.  A loss in Super Bowl LVI opens up a future of SoFi Stadium struggles. The Rams already share the stadium with the LA Chargers. Any sign of weakness and the Rams hard-fought gains and support among fans in the city of Los Angeles could fade away very quickly. So winning is truly everything for the entire organization.

When the LA Rams unceremoniously relocated to Saint Louis, Missouri, the city of Los Angeles was left without an NFL team. That void was filled by the slow but steady migration of fans to cheer for the San Francisco 49ers, the Las Vegas (then Oakland) Raiders, and even the Dallas Cowboys, a team that purposefully moved their training camp to California to fill the appetites of NFL fans that were abandoned.

While some tried to point a finger at who is to blame, the ultimate party responsible is most likely the NFL itself. When the Rams returned, there was a presumption that everyone had maintained a hopeful vigilance for that remote chance that the team may come back someday. When the Rams did come back, there should have been no surprise that 20 years later fans had moved on.

Defend the castle!

The construction of SoFi Stadium created a Crown Jewel for NFL Stadiums, an architectural and technological one-of-its-kind combination that has raised the bar for all sports arenas and stadiums permanently. But that stadium is only steel, concrete, and bundles of wire. It is up to the LA Rams to fill the stadium with a defense that is so bold and loud that other teams fear coming to play there. SoFi Stadium will be under siege each and every year, and it will be up to the team, this LA Rams roster, to defend it against any opponent.

After the Rams defeated the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game to advance to Super Bowl LVI, there was a sense that the Rams may have finally earned the right to say: Whose house? Rams’ house!  But the job isn’t done yet. In fact, they are not even getting warmed up.

SoFi Stadium is an architectural wonder, a truly magnificent landmark of such proportions that the site will be an epicenter of NFL and entertainment events for the next generation. Still, they will be detached from any bias or loyalties. It will be up to the team that plays there to win the day and earns that reputation as a tough place to get a win. The LA Rams can make a huge stride in that direction by winning Super Bowl LVI.

But even then, the job will not be done. The Rams must continue to win there, rising up to the challenge of each and every rival. The job will never truly be done. But defending a stronghold does have its benefits. SoFi Stadium is the envy of the entire NFL. The Rams can be that team that every other team wants to be someday.