Rams owner Stan Kroenke was honored with the key to the City of Inglewood during the Rams victory rally on Wednesday.
Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts presented the award to Kroenke while on stage with the victorious Rams players.
“Stan Kroenke has put Inglewood back on the top of the world and we thank and honor the Rams,” the mayor said. “Please remember, the Rams were born in Los Angeles, and they’ll always be the Los Angeles Rams. But now, they play at Stan Kroenke’s palace on Prairie in the city of Inglewood, and we call them the Los Angeles Rams of Inglewood, California.”
Kroenke thanked Mayor Butts and L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti for helping bring the Rams back “in such a good way.”
“We’ve had some great champions in Los Angeles,” Kroenke said. “But now we’ve got new champions.”
Kroenke, a billionaire businessman, is the owner of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, which is the holding company of Arsenal F.C. of the Premier League and Arsenal W.F.C. of the WSL, the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL, Denver Nuggets of the NBA, Colorado Avalanche of the NHL, Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer, Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League, the Los Angeles Gladiators of the Overwatch League, and the Los Angeles Guerrillas of the Call of Duty League.
This is the second key to the city of Inglewood ever to be given out in 114 years.
Issa Rae, co-creator of the Insecure series set in South L.A., was the first person to receive the prestigious honor just last week ahead of the Super Bowl.
Her show “put us back on the map,” Butts said, calling her “the queen of Inglewood” and thanking her for “outstanding contributions to our culture.”
After being presented with the award last week, Rae said, “The mayor really kind of flabbergasted me in that this is the first key in 114 years, so that’s a huge honor.”
She thanked the city of Inglewood for making it so easy to film the show there, “for helping us showcase this city that I love that so much.”
Rams players Cooper Kupp, Aaron Donald and Matthew Stafford were also given honorary keys Wednesday, but this time to the city of L.A.
“They can unlock any door in L.A. any day,” Mayor Garcetti said holding up the translucent keys.