There is no love lost between the city of St. Louis and Stan Kroenke, the Los Angeles Rams owner who relocated the team to California almost a decade ago.
But since the Rams’ departure, a new professional football team has emerged from the ashes: The St. Louis Battlehawks.
Battlehawks fans haven’t forgotten the team (and the owner) that left them behind. ESPN’s Kevin Seifert found that “the most consistent features of Battlehawks home games is references — including T-shirts and handmade signs — to Rams owner Stan Kroenke.” It helps, too, that the Battlehawks hosts its home games in the Rams’ old stadium, The Dome at America’s Center.
One fan told Seifert that that community has rallied around their disdain for Kroenke.
“It’s a community experience with a shared interest in spring football and a shared hatred of Stan Kroenke,” Battlehawks fan John Lewis said. “When I talk to some of the old-timers there, they’re like, ‘We loved the Rams. They did so much for this community, and then they snuck out.’ Having a good professional football team in the place where the Rams played is kind of like a middle finger to Stan. It’s like, ‘We don’t need you. Look what we have here.’ And it’s so much more accessible and cheaper than trying to go to a Rams game.”
Two years ago, even, Battlehawks fans broke out in a “Kroenke sucks” chant when they were a part of the XFL (who eventually merged with the USFL).
Not even five minutes into the St Louis BattleHawks home opener, but the “Kroenke Sucks” chants are in full force. #XFLpic.twitter.com/ODxTGs3dyO
— Spring Football Zone (@SpringFBZone) March 12, 2023
Despite the lack of an NFL team, St. Louis has still looked like a solid football city. The Battlehawks averaged 32,531 fans in 12 games at The Dome since 2020 and attendance has been 40% and 70% higher than the rest of the league, per Seifert, who added that an average 2025 UFL game not in St. Louis had 9,421 fans.
The Battlehawks enjoyed a good season in 2025 as well with another St. Louis connection as head coach — former NFL tight end Anthony Becht, who played one season for the Rams in 2008. St. Louis finished 7-3 this past season, but fell in the conference finals to the San Antonio Brahmas.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Fans of UFL’s Battlehawks rally around ‘shared hatred of Stan Kroenke’
There is no love lost between the city of St. Louis and Stan Kroenke, the Los Angeles Rams owner who relocated the team to California almost a decade ago.
But since the Rams’ departure, a new professional football team has emerged from the ashes: The St. Louis Battlehawks.
Battlehawks fans haven’t forgotten the team (and the owner) that left them behind. ESPN’s Kevin Seifert found that “the most consistent features of Battlehawks home games is references — including T-shirts and handmade signs — to Rams owner Stan Kroenke.” It helps, too, that the Battlehawks hosts its home games in the Rams’ old stadium, The Dome at America’s Center.
One fan told Seifert that that community has rallied around their disdain for Kroenke.
“It’s a community experience with a shared interest in spring football and a shared hatred of Stan Kroenke,” Battlehawks fan John Lewis said. “When I talk to some of the old-timers there, they’re like, ‘We loved the Rams. They did so much for this community, and then they snuck out.’ Having a good professional football team in the place where the Rams played is kind of like a middle finger to Stan. It’s like, ‘We don’t need you. Look what we have here.’ And it’s so much more accessible and cheaper than trying to go to a Rams game.”
Two years ago, even, Battlehawks fans broke out in a “Kroenke sucks” chant when they were a part of the XFL (who eventually merged with the USFL).
Not even five minutes into the St Louis BattleHawks home opener, but the “Kroenke Sucks” chants are in full force. #XFLpic.twitter.com/ODxTGs3dyO
— Spring Football Zone (@SpringFBZone) March 12, 2023
Despite the lack of an NFL team, St. Louis has still looked like a solid football city. The Battlehawks averaged 32,531 fans in 12 games at The Dome since 2020 and attendance has been 40% and 70% higher than the rest of the league, per Seifert, who added that an average 2025 UFL game not in St. Louis had 9,421 fans.
The Battlehawks enjoyed a good season in 2025 as well with another St. Louis connection as head coach — former NFL tight end Anthony Becht, who played one season for the Rams in 2008. St. Louis finished 7-3 this past season, but fell in the conference finals to the San Antonio Brahmas.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Fans of UFL’s Battlehawks rally around ‘shared hatred of Stan Kroenke’
