BrandonJXN |
Sep 13, 2012 4:55 AM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Derek
(Post 5829489)
I don't think they're going anywhere either. What happened to all the hype around a stadium in LA? Oh yeah, it died.
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Meanwhile in Los Angeles...
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_214...elatively-soon
Quote:
Los Angeles positioned for NFL to return 'relatively soon'
By Vincent Bonsignore, Staff Writer
09/08/2012
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - To understand how real the NFL returning to Los Angeles is, you have to travel back five months and 1,929 miles to the Minnesota state Capitol in St. Paul.
A stadium proposal to keep the state's beloved Vikings in Minneapolis was teetering on collapse, the House Government Operations and Elections Committee voting 9-6 against a deal previously struck between the team, the governor, legislative leaders, and the mayor of Minneapolis.
The Vikings were stalled at the goal line; in front of them the state government made like the Purple People Eaters blocking their path to the end zone.
Meanwhile, the clock was ticking.
With the Vikings' lease at the outdated Metrodome already expired and Los Angeles looming large with two viable stadium proposals in place - not to mention the plane owned by Vikings owner Zygi Wilf parked at a Southern California airport - the possibility of the club fleeing Minnesota for California seemed as real as January snowfall in the Twin Cities.
And, just to be sure Minnesota state leaders understood how genuine that likelihood was, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II, who chairs the league's stadium committee, flew to St. Paul to speak to them face to face.
Their message was clear.
"If you don't get this deal done, there are other viable markets that will come after your team," said a source with intimate knowledge of the meeting.
The primary market being Los Angeles, with a source confirming representatives from both the Anschutz Entertainment Group's downtown Farmers Field project and Ed Roski Jr.'s City of Industry proposal had approached the Vikings about moving to Los Angeles.
"With the conversations indicating if there is fallout, if (the Vikings stadium deal) doesn't get done or you're ready to throw in the towel, we're ready to sit down and talk to you about coming to Los Angeles," they said, according to the source.
Within hours after Goodell and Rooney's visit, the stalled debate was miraculously jump-started. Less than a month later, the Minnesota Legislature approved a final bill for a $975 million stadium in downtown Minneapolis.
And while the Vikings got their new state-of-the-art facility, the worst kept secret in the NFL was out in the open.
It's no longer a matter of if the NFL returns to Los Angeles for the first time since the Rams and Raiders left in 1995, but when.
With momentum growing almost every day.
"I'm more optimistic now than I have been in the last 12 years, since I've been on this thing," Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Wednesday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey after his Cowboys beat the New York Giants to kick off the new season.
"I now see significant meat on the bones and significant people who can do things and are willing to do things. And it's clearly recognized what a great opportunity (Los Angeles) is for the league."
The NFL is taking notice at the highest levels, not only in words but in action.
Last July, the commissioner issued a league-wide memo laying out specific instructions for any team interested in re-locating to Los Angeles, making it clear any move would be a cooperative effort between his office and the team, while setting a Jan. 1 to Feb. 15 deadline for clubs to express intent to move in time for the 2013 season.
Then last month, Rooney predicted a team would be in place in Los Angeles within five years and possibly sooner - echoing the same feelings as Jones, who also sits on the NFL stadium committee - and did not rule out two teams eventually moving to L.A.
Meanwhile, league sources indicate it's a foregone conclusion the NFL will be back in Los Angeles sooner rather than later, the consensus being with a new collective bargaining agreement ensuring labor stability for the next 10 years and long-term television contracts in place, the league can now shift its focus back to L.A.
"Getting back to Los Angeles is a very, very high priority," said a high-ranking NFL official.
And one the league is growing more and more excited about.
"Stadium development in Los Angeles has advanced to the point where the prospects for a new facility are better than they have been in many years," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said.
So what is the holdup?
Well, with the NFL holding firm on maintaining the balance of a 32-team league with eight evenly split four-team divisions, adding one or two new teams through expansion is not an option at this point.
That means an existing team, or teams, must relocate here. Then there is the matter of Anschutz or Roski hammering out a deal with the club and NFL that makes sense for everyone involved.
And that is no easy task considering the millions and millions of dollars at stake.
"To be sure, there are hurdles to clear," said an NFL source, who made it clear he expects the NFL back in Los Angeles in the near future.
Or, as Jones put it bluntly this week: "It's going to take a bold financial commitment."
Identifying the possible teams might be the easiest part.
With the Vikings out of the picture, the three most likely clubs are the San Diego Chargers, St. Louis Rams and Oakland Raiders - with the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars lingering in the background.
The Chargers and Raiders have fought for years to get new stadiums built in their cities but have met with resistance from state leaders relative to public assistance. Neither is any closer today to getting a new stadium than when they began their fights more than a decade ago.
The Chargers have a three-month window each year from Feb. 1 to April 30 in which they can buy out their lease at Qualcomm Stadium - an escape clause that fits snugly with Goodell's relocation deadline and makes the Chargers the only team in position to move to L.A. for the 2013 season.
The Rams, meanwhile, have a clause that stipulates the Edward Jones Dome must be in the top quarter percent of NFL stadiums in 15 separate categories or they can terminate their lease at the end of the 2014 season.
The team and St. Louis officials vehemently disagree over how much money is needed to facilitate the necessary upgrades and have agreed to use a binding arbitrator to help close the gap, which is estimated at close to $600 million.
Depending on what the arbitrator rules - and the case is expected to run through the end of this year - the Rams could be a strong candidate to return to Los Angeles.
Their owner, Stan Kroenke, was among the bidders to buy the Dodgers, and insiders suggest he has strong interest in operating a team in the country's second-biggest market.
The Raiders are running a distant third, with league sources indicating the NFL is so mindful of putting a fail-safe team in place in Los Angeles they might block any attempt by the Raiders to move to L.A.
The equally significant issue is negotiating a deal that mutually benefits the stadium developers, the team and the NFL.
And while Aiello said the league wants back in Los Angeles as soon as possible, he also stressed: "Only under conditions in which we can be successful."
The actual stadium issue is nearing completion, with the City of Industry project cleared for construction and Farmers Field, which has already secured a $700 million naming rights deal, on target for complete clearance by the end of the month.
Albeit with two different business models.
Under AEG's proposal, Anschutz will foot the entire $1.3 billion to build the stadium while asking to buy part or all of the relocating team. For a template, consider the deal AEG made with the Lakers when Staples Center opened in which Anschutz bought a 25 percent stake in the Lakers and the majority ownership it has in the Kings.
Roski, on the other hand, is reportedly offering the 600 acres he owns 22 miles east of Los Angeles to any team interested in moving there, although the team would then have to pay for the stadium itself with Roski purchasing a piece of the team.
Both groups stress they are keeping all options open and that there is enough mutual motivation to bring football back to Los Angeles a suitable deal benefiting both sides will be negotiated.
With the league intent on returning to Southern California, multiple teams in desperate need of upgraded facilities and two stadium proposals in place, Los Angeles is as well positioned as ever to get pro football back.
"I'm convinced our fans out there will soon, relatively soon, have an NFL football team," Jones said.
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The Rams are the front runners but I wouldn't be surprised one bit if both the Rams and Chargers move back to Los Angeles.
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