If the Chargers do not move to L.A.in that year, the option will go to the Oakland Raiders who will also have 12 months to work a deal with Kroenke. A final decision is likely to hinge on the result of a vote of San Diego city authorities in June on a proposed US$350 million public funding package for a new facility to replace the Chargers’ Qualcomm Stadium.
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Raiders owner Mark Davis, whose team has no lease anywhere for next season, said the outcome did not ensure the Raiders would stay in Oakland, where the stadium is the last to be shared by National Football League and baseball teams.
Eventually, the two teams hammered out an agreement to share the Inglewood facility – much like the New York Giants and Jets do with Metlife Stadium – and the Chargers now have until January 2017 to decide if they will leave San Diego, the city they’ve called home since 1961.
The Rams franchise was initially based in Cleveland but moved to Los Angeles in 1946 and remained there until 1994, when a string of bad teams and steadily declining attendance led to their relocation to St. Louis.
“The Raiders congratulate Stan Kroenke and the Rams on their successful bid for relocation to Los Angeles”. The league has flirted with a return nearly since the time those teams packed up and moved to Oakland and St. Louis, but plans have never advanced to the point of the current proposals. There are a number of disappointed fans in the St. Louis area. “I thank everyone who worked so diligently on this project, especially the Governor’s Task Force”. “It’s more than just a stadium, it’s an entertainment complex”, Goodell said.
The plan includes $150 million from the city, $250 million from Kroenke, at least $200 million from the league, and $160 million in fan seat licenses.
St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger tweeted that he was “bitterly disappointed” with the news.
If the Chargers decide to relocate, it’s unclear where they will play. “We thank fans throughout the Raider Nation for their unrivaled passion and support”.
They have the option to, but an exhausted looking owner, Dean Spanos, said on Tuesday he wants to take “a day off” to think about it. “I will be working over the next several weeks to explore the options that we have now created”, Spanos said.
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The Falcons have a long history with the Rams after spending many years in the NFC West division together, so to be one of the first teams to play them as a relocated franchise is only fitting.
