The relocation agreement gives the Chargers and Raiders $100 million each if they build new stadiums in their current markets, but a stadium plan is required within a year. Rams owner Stan Kroenke led off Tuesday’s meeting touting his project and its merits, which proved to be the preferred site. However, sources tell ABC7 that National Football League owners have voted for the Inglewood stadium project, and now the question remains if the Chargers will join the Rams at that location. The Raiders and Rams both left Los Angeles after the 1994 season. Before you scream, remember that it also probably means Philip Rivers is a “San Diego Charger” next year and probably for the remainder of his contract.
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While NFL owners tend to accept the suggestions of league committees, the Los Angeles relocation is a complex and high-stakes competition between three teams playing in antiquated home stadiums.
It remains unclear whether any decisions made by the owners this week will be final, and speculation has swirled regarding various scenarios.
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer says the city and county will negotiate but “are not interested in a charade by the Chargers if they continue to pursue Los Angeles”.
A special six-owner committee, on Tuesday, recommended the plan that would see the Chargers and Raiders share a stadium in Carson, but voting swayed in a different direction. It’s unclear where the Chargers would play if they move.
It’s over for the Rams, and it’s over for St. Louis.
No NFL franchise has moved since the Houston Oilers went to Tennessee in 1997. But Kroenke mostly ignored the city’s overtures, and Goodell said the requirement of at least $200 million from the NFL was double what league policy allowed. It was announced that the Rams will be going back home to LA, while the Chargers are not all that far behind.
The Rams have a year-to-year lease in St. Louis. It has flirted with San Antonio in the past, and San Diego popped up as a possible Raiders destination in discussions at these meetings if the Chargers vacate the city, though that interest has not been confirmed by anyone within the organization. The Oakland Raiders, who agreed to disband a joint-venture with the Chargers, will be given the first option to move to Los Angeles if the Chargers fail to work out a deal. The team said in its relocation bid that the St. Louis market lags economically and that the stadium proposal is doomed to fail.
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Well, it looks like that might not be all that much of a problem at all, really.
