ST. LOUIS – With the Super Bowl just days away, it’s worth revisiting how one of the NFL’s greatest dynasties nearly packed up and moved to St. Louis, just before their rise to multiple championships.
That team? None other than the New England Patriots, who ironically won their first of six Super Bowls over two decades against the then-St. Louis Rams franchise in 2002.
But nearly a decade earlier, and more than 30 years ago now, the Patriots’ future in New England was anything but certain, and a move to St. Louis seemed inevitable. Until it wasn’t.
Why the Patriots almost moved
In 1992, St. Louis native James Busch Orthwein purchased the Patriots from Victor Kiam, who was drowning in debt from bankruptcy and owed Orthwein millions. With ownership in flux, several factors made relocation to St. Louis a strong possibility:
- St. Louis was desperate for an NFL team, having lost the NFL Cardinals franchise after the 1987 season. Investors were eager to get back into the league.
- Orthwein came from a strong background of St. Louis business executives. His great-grandfather, Adolphus Busch, founded Anheuser-Busch, a company instrumental in keeping the MLB Cardinals in St. Louis in the mid-20th century.
- The Patriots were a disaster to begin the 1990s, starting the decade with four lackluster seasons, compiling a 14-50 record.
- At the same time, Patriots fan support was at rock bottom. The Patriots averaged just 37,000 fans per game in 1992, barely at half capacity and the league’s lowest attendance mark.
- The NFL awarded two expansion teams in 1993 to Charlotte, North Carolina, and Jacksonville, Florida, though St. Louis was long believed to be in the mix.
- St. Louis began construction in 1993 on the facility known today as the Dome at America’s Center in hopes for an NFL return, whether via expansion or relocation.
All of these signs pointed toward Orthwein moving the Patriots to St. Louis after the 1993 season. The St. Louis Stallions even emerged as an expected team name. Everything seemed to be in place until one major obstacle emerged.
Why they didn’t move
As momentum was building for relocating the Patriots to St. Louis, one major roadblock stood in Orthwein’s way: Robert Kraft.
Kraft acquired ownership of the Patriots’ former home venue (Foxoboro Stadium) out of bankruptcy in 1988. Despite its aging condition and attendance woes, a stadium lease locked the Patriots there through the 2001 season.
Orthwein couldn’t break the agreement without Kraft’s approval, and Kraft wouldn’t budge.
Instead, Kraft flipped the script. He offered Orthwein $175 million, the largest deal for a U.S. professional sports ownership change at the time, to buy the Patriots outright. With no viable path to otherwise move the Patriots without Kraft’s consent, Orthwein reluctantly agreed to the deal in January 1994.
“People have offered me all sorts of money for the lease. But I let it be known that I wouldn’t sell at any price,” said Kraft via a 1994 New York Times report.
“I’m not going to be the most popular man [in St. Louis]. I’m going to still do the best I can for my hometown to help them get a team. As far as owning a team, I’m done with that,” said Orthwein via the same New York Times report.
What ifs?
St. Louis didn’t need to wait much longer for NFL’s return. Just one year later, St. Louis landed the Rams franchise, who went on to win their first Super Bowl in 2000 before relocating to Los Angeles in 2016.
But what if the Patriots had moved to St. Louis instead?
- Would the Rams have stayed in Los Angeles all along or tried a different market?
- Would Bill Belicheck and Tom Brady have built their dynasty in St. Louis under Orthwein’s ownership?
- Would other relocated or expansion-born teams (like the Baltimore Ravens or Houston Texans) exist as they do today?
- Would the 2002 Super Bowl matchup between the Patriots and Rams have even been possible?
It’s impossible to say for certain, but the missed opportunity to bring the Patriots is certainly one of the most intriguing “what-ifs” in St. Louis’ football history.
NOTE: The video attached to this web story above includes a FOX 2 archived report from early 1994 exploring the possibility of the Patriots relocating to St. Louis.