It wasn’t a game, and it wasn’t a concert. But the Los Angeles Rams’ week of football practice on the grass at Oriole Park at Camden Yards marked something unprecedented — the first time in 33 years that Baltimore’s baseball cathedral hosted another sport on its playing surface.
The Rams are enjoying practicing at Camden Yards this week before they head to London 👏
(via @RamsNFL)
pic.twitter.com/Mr1b4p1wTa— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 15, 2025
The Rams, who stayed on the East Coast between a road win over the Ravens and their trip to London, used the Orioles’ ballpark as a temporary training ground. The agreement required the Rams to pay for a complete resodding of the field, including new grass and a sand base, before the 2026 season.
As reported by The Baltimore Sun’s Matt Weyrich, the project will be “more extensive than typical offseason maintenance” — the first full resodding since 2023. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk added that the deal illustrates both the wear football inflicts on grass fields and the willingness of NFL teams to invest in quality surfaces when circumstances demand it.
The use of Camden Yards for a football practice wouldn’t have happened a few years ago. It required coordination between the Orioles, the Ravens, and the Maryland Stadium Authority, which manages both facilities. MSA executive director Michael Frenz said at the Oct. 7 board meeting that the arrangement was a practical solution:
“The fields would get really torn up [at M&T Bank Stadium], so they went to the Orioles, and the Orioles agreed. It’s an example of cooperation between the two teams.”
That cooperation mirrors the deeper relationship forming between Baltimore’s franchises — a partnership detailed by Jeff Zrebiec in The Athletic (subscription required). Orioles executive vice president Mike Elias, assistant GM Sig Mejdal, and Ravens GM Eric DeCosta now share scouting concepts, performance insights, and even family ties. Mejdal’s wife teaches yoga for the Ravens, while Elias’ children are occasionally babysat by DeCosta’s daughter. Coaches Brandon Hyde and John Harbaugh have swapped visits to each other’s facilities, and DeCosta summed it up plainly:
“We have two pretty damn good teams here. I want fans to see that relationship.”
Orioles' Camden Yards is prepped and ready for the Rams, fresh off beating the Ravens yesterday, to practice this week before they head to England.
📸: @KRichardsonMMA pic.twitter.com/302CHp2oog
— Matt Weyrich (@ByMattWeyrich) October 13, 2025
Elias added that this kind of alignment strengthens Baltimore’s civic identity:
“These sports teams have a relative importance to the city that is way beyond the average. We should be working together on that front.”
The Rams’ week in Baltimore became a literal example of that unity — a baseball and football city working together to host a visiting team bound for a global stage.
Thanks for the hospitality, @Orioles. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/8oyulOe59r
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) October 17, 2025
As ESPN’s Sarah Barshop reported, the idea for using Camden Yards came from Rams COO Tony Pastoors, with an assist from Orioles CFO Darline Llamas Llopis — who had previously spent nearly three years in the Rams’ front office. Ten days before the team’s first practice, three semi-trucks left Los Angeles packed with everything needed to turn a baseball stadium into a temporary NFL base of operations: weight racks, video equipment, taping tables, goalposts, and even custom speakers.
Because the Rams’ roster is so much larger than a baseball team’s, the staff split the clubhouses — offense in the Orioles’ home locker room, defense in the visitors’. Head coach Sean McVay called the setup “a pretty damn cool setting,” and quarterback Matthew Stafford, who once played baseball alongside future Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw at Highland Park High School in Dallas, couldn’t resist picking up a ball on the Camden turf.
“I loved it growing up,” Stafford said. “This was my favorite sport and I still love watching it.”
Players described the week like a “bowl game” or a “high school field trip.” Several spent their off day fishing around the Inner Harbor, while others tossed baseballs down the third-base line after practice. McVay credited the trip as “a business week that became a team-building week,” made possible because a baseball field opened its gates to football.
Fans rarely think about the business side of keeping professional sports running smoothly — the public financing, lease deals, parking revenue, and scheduling headaches that come with sharing city space. The Rams’ week at Camden Yards put all of that back in view, a reminder of when shared fields were part of the normal sports landscape.
Across history, a surprising number of stadiums have carried double duty:
Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium once hosted both the Orioles and Colts, before the Ravens played their first two seasons there in 1996–97.
RFK Stadium in Washington housed the Redskins, Senators, and later the Nationals.
Toronto’s SkyDome — now Rogers Centre — was home to both the Blue Jays and the CFL’s Argonauts from 1989 through 2015.
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum hosted both the Dodgers and Rams, and even saw the Dodgers return for their 50th-anniversary series in 2008.
Minnesota’s Metropolitan Stadium and later the Metrodome served both the Vikings and Twins.
Denver’s Mile High Stadium doubled for the Broncos and Rockies before Coors Field opened in 1995.
Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium hosted the Phillies and Eagles.
Milwaukee County Stadium rotated between the Braves, Brewers, and even the Packers for select home games.
Chicago’s Wrigley Field was home to both the Cubs and Bears for nearly 50 years.
Houston’s Astrodome shared its roof between the Oilers and Astros.
Boston’s Fenway Park once hosted the Braves, Red Sox, and early Patriots franchises.
Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium held the Falcons and Braves.
Seattle’s Kingdome was home to the Seahawks and Mariners.
Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium shared space between the Indians and Browns.
San Francisco’s Candlestick Park was split by the Giants and 49ers from 1971 to 1999.
St. Louis’s Rams and Cardinals overlapped at Busch Memorial Stadium during the Rams’ first four games in 1995.
Los Angeles’s Rams and California Angels cohabited at Anaheim Stadium until 1994.
Oakland’s Raiders and A’s shared the Coliseum through 2019, the last true long-term MLB–NFL crossover.
New York’s Jets and Mets played together at Shea Stadium, while the Giants shared Yankee Stadium with the Yankees.
And in Miami, the Dolphins and Marlins coexisted at Pro Player Stadium from 1993 through 2011 before the Marlins moved to Little Havana.
Camden Yards’ brief October transformation fits squarely within that lineage — a baseball-only park lending its turf to another sport.
Rams loosening up for start of practice at Camden Yards. pic.twitter.com/IKPqbaxof4
— Gary Klein (@LATimesklein) October 15, 2025
On r/nfl, one Ravens fan met the Rams-at-Camden news with a shrug and a wink: “A team with a winning record will be playing at your stadium. I’d take that as a win.”
Fifteen minutes later the long view showed up in r/baseball’s old multipurpose-stadium debate, where a Twins fan distilled the ‘70s–‘90s sight-line problem into a single line: “Sit in a chair, turn your head 45 degrees, and keep it there for three hours.” Different forums, same point—Baltimore’s one-week crossover was practical, not romantic, and it worked because the city could flex the real estate without pretending the old compromises were better.
Photo: An unidentified Minnesota Twins player is pulled down by California Angels Ron Jackson as Jackson and Twins Jose Morales, left, and Geoff Zahn watch the rest of the action in a bench clearing brawl in Bloomington, Minn., April 22, 1978, which was precipitated when Angels Bobby Grich charged Twins pitcher Roger Erickson on a pitch he didn’t like. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
The plan worked. After a week of practices at Camden Yards, the Rams flew to London and dismantled the Jacksonville Jaguars 35–7 at Wembley. ESPN noted it was the latest any team had ever arrived for an international game — touching down less than 30 hours before kickoff.
Head coach Sean McVay credited the setup:
“The way the guys played showed it was the right decision,” McVay told BBC Sport. “We picked up our whole operation and went somewhere else. I’m proud of our team.”
He later told ESPN that the week built “organic camaraderie” within the roster. Receiver Davante Adams, who woke up at 4 a.m. London time on game day, said afterward:
“Being able to rally and figure it out and come out with a lot of energy and have a good convincing win like this — it was great.”
Across two weeks, the Rams beat both Baltimore and Jacksonville by a combined score of 52–10 — their best start since their 2021 Super Bowl season.
What began as a travel adjustment became a snapshot of how modern sports cooperate. Baltimore’s ballpark opened its gates to football. Players adapted, staff adjusted, and two franchises shared space without ego.
That same spirit returns in March when 20 nations meet at the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Shohei Ohtani leads Japan. Juan Soto and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. headline the Dominican Republic. Ronald Acuña Jr. brings Venezuela’s edge, and Mookie Betts and Aaron Judge anchor Team USA.
2026 World Baseball Classic Schedule Guide & Winter League Website Ledger
This generation knows each other’s games — they’ve trained together, competed together, and grown up watching one another. Ohtani’s command, Soto’s poise, Acuña’s speed, Guerrero’s power — the global game is fluent in all of it.
From Camden Yards to Tokyo, from Houston to Miami and San Juan, baseball’s reach keeps expanding.
