We’re nearing the end of Escape To L.A. race that the St. Louis Rams, San Diego Chargers, and Oakland Raiders have been running for what seems like forever now.
Advertisement
Now, Carson and Inglewood were projects that got going with Citizens Initiative, and San Diego has the beginning of one of those as well.
Reid reports that while the Chargers/Raiders plan does not have the 24 votes needed for approval, it’s “believed to be significantly closer to the figure than Kroenke”. Irsay said that the owners are leaning towards having two teams in Los Angeles, which could favor certain teams over others.
So never mind the previous screw-ups of Goodell’s not-so-distinguished reign: “Deflategate”, “Bountygate” and “Spygate”, as well as his bungling of domestic-abuse cases involving Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy.
The meetings in Dallas begin Tuesday with committee meetings, including the committee on Los Angeles opportunities. A delay also might boost the teams’ relocation efforts by giving more time to vocal opponents of the stadium plans – and there are many in each city. The Chargers and Raiders have been pursuing a joint venture in Carson, Calif., but one franchise could choose to team with the Rams.
However, ESPN reported that the owners could move the application period for teams wanting to relocate from the traditional January 1-Feb.
As for the land on which the proposed stadium sits, Kroenke will control all ownership, in addition to all development around the stadium. The exact date and location is still undecided, but is expected to be either January 12 in Dallas or January 19 in Houston.
Part of the L.A. update will be a brief presentation by league staff on the town hall meetings that were staged recently in St. Louis, San Diego and Oakland.
We know Rams Owners Stan Kroenke wants to move his team to Inglewood, but he has no where near the 24 votes he needs.
Houston Texans owner Robert McNair said there isn’t enough information yet on proposals from St. Louis and San Diego to keep their franchises for the owners to make any firm decisions.
If the December 28 deadline isn’t met, don’t think for a second this will hurt attendance; the Chargers, Raiders and Rams all play their final game on the road.
Advertisement
Mara and Hunt are both members of the NFL’s L.A. committee, which is reviewing competing stadium plans for the city and could make a recommendation to the full ownership soon.
