The Oakland Raiders have placed their future in the hands of National Football League team owners, meanwhile city officials are reminding fans that they are still not interested in using public money to build the team a new stadium.
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ST. LOUIS (AP) – The St. Louis Rams have filed an application to relocate to the Los Angeles area after 21 seasons in the Midwest.
The NFL confirmed that each of the teams had sent in proposals, according to ABC7 local news. “The relocation would be effective for the 2016 NFL League Year”, said the Rams, who were previously based in the Los Angeles area from 1946 to 1994.
City leaders have offered to make available 60 acres on the Coliseum complex as well as to help the Raiders and a development partner obtain development rights to nine acres adjacent to the Coliseum BART station.
The addition, known as Mount Davis after then-Raiders owner Al Davis, has been a disappointment. “We stand ready to work with the Raiders and the National Football League to make that happen in a way that is responsible to the team, the fans and the taxpayers”.
This should speak volumes at just how valuable Los Angeles potentially could be for the NFL.
“The applications will be reviewed this week by league staff and three league committees that will meet in NY on Wednesday and Thursday – the Los Angeles Opportunities, Stadium, and Finance committees”. All owners will meet in Houston next week and are expected to vote on whether to allow any of the teams to move. The victor needs 24 of the 32 votes; both sides have enough oomph to block the other.
Two stadiums have already been proposed for the Los Angeles area between the three teams. The league is reported to be eyeing a relocation fee in the neighborhood of $500 million. By contrast, the Chargers posted a videotaped interview with owner Dean Spanos, who said the push to leave San Diego was “probably the single most hard decision that I have ever made…in business”.
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Kroenke has ignored efforts by a St. Louis task force that is proposing a $1.1 billion stadium along the Mississippi River, not far from the Rams’ current stadium built in 1995.
