Big news out of the City of Angels comes from the NFL Tuesday as three teams – the San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders, and St. Louis Rams – all just filed paperwork to relocate there.
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Rams owner Stan Kroenke plans to develop a stadium site in Inglewood, and there is a joint stadium plan in Carson for the Chargers and Raiders.
Rapoport also reports that no team has received enough support from National Football League owners to make the move.
To that end, the 17 members of the league’s finance, stadium and Los Angeles committees will gather in NY on Wednesday and Thursday. The NFL requires 24 votes to approve a team’s relocation proposal.
Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest market, hasn’t had a team since the Raiders and Rams left after the 1994 season. The Rams and Raiders were both based in L.A. until the mid ’90s.
The Rams, Chargers, and Raiders have all called the Los Angeles Coliseum their home at some point in their history.
The Chargers’ filing came hours after Spanos’ son, John, the team’s president of football operations, thanked fans for “your unwavering support and passion” in a statement in which he expressed support for beleaguered coach Mike McCoy and general manager Tom Telesco.
“It’s really been the inability of the city at the political level to get any kind of public funding or any kind of a vote to help subsidize a stadium”.
After months of speculation, intrigue and public policy contortions, the St. Louis Rams have officially filed to move to the Los Angeles area. Kroenke, who has said basically nothing about his intentions over the previous year, did not follow Spanos’ lead of explaining why his team is trying to relocate. A final decision is then expected during a full owners meeting January 12 and 13.
Former NFL and Chargers executive Jim Steeg said efforts by San Diego civic officials to keep the Chargers were not in vain, and that the city had to show the NFL it was willing to fight for its team. The matter is now in the hands of the NFL’s owners.
“I think that is what really was the catalyst that got this whole thing going”, he said, “because when the Rams decided to make their move there, this was a move to protect our business more than anything”. The city and county still owe almost $100 million on the project, while the Coliseum does not generate as much revenue for the Raiders as other teams are getting from newer stadiums.
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The Chargers were the first to announce their request to move, saying in a statement: “We have tried for more than 14 years, through nine separate proposals and seven different mayors, to create a world-class stadium experience for fans in San Diego”.
