NFL leaders said Wednesday they expect the owners to vote early next year on a move of a team or teams to the vacant Los Angeles market. That means marketability, fans, on-field performance and stadium projects are all up for consideration when it eventually comes down to a vote. The Rams are proposing a stadium in Inglewood, California, while the Raiders and Chargers jointly have one planned for Carson.
Advertisement
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell echoed Rooney’s prediction of a vote – which would require 24 of the league’s 32 owners to approve a move – but didn’t provide specifics on how the league would handle a potential stalemate between the rival plans. League executive Eric Grubman, who is overseeing the relocation and Los Angeles efforts, said last month that St. Louis and San Diego wouldn’t be well-served to present at these meetings because some owners might not feel comfortable asking questions and having serious conversations on such a stage.
Goodell said it’s “very positive” to have two alternatives in what he also called “the entertainment capital of the world”.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the plan calls for Kroenke to formerly transfer ownership of basketball’s Nuggets and hockey’s Avalanche to his wife, Wal-Mart Stores heiress Ann Walton Kroenke, with their son, Josh Kroenke, running the Colorado franchises.
On Wednesday, at the conclusion of the league’s one-day fall owners meetings at the Waldorf Astoria hotel, the influential owner expressed confidence that the tortured path back to L.A. will reach a conclusion in January with a vote of his peers.
Negotiations between the league office and San Diego and St. Louis officials will give the league’s owners a better understanding of the viability of stadium plans in those markets before voting on relocation. “If we’re going to win as one and we’re all in, how about Mr. Spanos how about you getting in on this?”
The main issue at hand is figuring out which team or teams should relocate to LA, and on that subject, there seem to be two “schools of thought”. If that doesn’t happen, the lingering rumors of this thing dragging on for another year could get more traction.
NFL staff members briefed the owners on parameters for relocation fees Wednesday, although a specific figure has not been voted on.
The Pro Bowl also could land in global sites. Since leaving Los Angeles, the Raiders have shared the same facility with the Oakland Athletics, who have struggled for several years to get a stadium of their own in the Bay Area. “I think the ownership was very thoughtful today”. “I don’t put any particular significance in the timing on this one”.
Advertisement
The Rams played in Anaheim Stadium until 1994 when they were moved by former owner Georgia Frontiere to St. Louis. Scott M. Reid of the Orange County Register reported what Spanos had to say regarding the LA situation Tuesday morning: “I think this is still a work in progress and we still have a ways to go”. “Between now and then we’ve got some work to do”. “We have cities that still are putting together their proposals” to keep their teams.
