L.A. has had several sites for a team proposed throughout the years, but it has not had a professional football franchise since the Rams and Raiders left the city in 1995 for St. Louis and Oakland, respectively.
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Colts owner Jim Irsay told reporters that there is a “strong feeling” among owners that two teams play in Los Angeles. The Chargers and Raiders had their ideas of building a stadium in Carson that they would share, but the Rams want to build a stadium and share it with one of those teams in order to squash those other plans in Carson.
However, ESPN reported that the owners could move the application period for teams wanting to relocate from the traditional January 1-Feb.
Goodell didn’t get specific, but said the league’s rule book could be streamlined and that the NFL plans to increase oversight using improved technology in hopes of quelling the public outcry. “That seat hasn’t been removed”.
According to sources close to the Chargers, the team believes the partnership with the Raiders and Disney CEO Bob Iger represents a superior choice for the NFL’s return to Los Angeles. “I think they’re making a really good effort; whether they can bring it across the finish line remains to be seen”, Mara said.
The NFL also could force the Rams and the Chargers to work together in Inglewood, although the Chargers’ owners appear decidedly uninterested in being the junior partner in that complex. The second team would not be involved in the surrounding development or stadium design.
The letter called for the Rams and a second team to split construction costs on the $1.86 billion stadium as well as game-day revenue.
“I don’t guarantee it, but I certainly think that that’s where we’re trying to head to”, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said of voting in Houston.
The league will formally accept re-location proposals beginning January 4, Goodell said. “The ownership has expressed their desire to get this done in a reasonable amount of time”.
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“What are the home markets willing to do?” That process also could be streamlined by the NFL’s competition committee before next season based on the input of the blue-ribbon panel Goodell is assembling.
