Did Los Angeles Rams fans not expect much out of their team in the season opener? Or are there Los Angeles Rams fans to begin with?

The Rams’ much-ballyhooed prime-time debut in their return to L.A. wasn’t much of a local story, apparently. The Week 1 Monday night game against the San Francisco 49ers, their old rivals, drew paltry ratings. Only 16.1 percent of homes in the Los Angeles market were tuned to the game, even though it was available on both cable (ESPN) and free TV (the local ABC affiliate) in the L.A. market, according to Nielsen ratings.

Rams head coach Jeff Fisher’s team struggled in the opener … but did L.A. people notice? (AP) More

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Compare that number to the 17.7 percent of homes in the St. Louis area that were tuned into the Rams’ season opener last year, which is notable for a few reasons. One, it was a noon kickoff on a Sunday. Two, the widespread speculation of the Rams moving to L.A. was in full effect at that point.

Additionally, only two games in the 21 seasons the Rams were in St. Louis did the TV ratings not surpass that 16.1 mark.

What’s funny, though, is that some Rams fans in St. Louis are having a hard time letting go. Nielsen reported that the Rams game was watched by 8 percent of homes in the St. Louis market, which was tied for 13th nationally, and not that far behind the 8.8 rating drawn by the Cardinals-Cubs baseball game (which ended around the the time Rams kicked off).

This begs the question: Which group of fans are smarter — Los Angeles Rams fans not tuning in, or St. Louis folks enjoying their schadenfreude of a 28-0 blanking by the 49ers?

(h/t St. Louis Post Dispatch)

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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