Report: Chances dim for NFL team in Los Angeles in 2015
The chances of an NFL team moving to Los Angeles in 2015 are reportedly dimming, according to The New York Times.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said last week that no resolution was in sight as the NFL continues to look for a site for a new stadium. Los Angeles has not had a NFL team since 1994, before the Rams left for St. Louis and the Raiders for Oakland.
“I’m not at the point where I would tell you that anything is imminent or that we have a solution identified at this point in time,” Goodell said Wednesday after team owners met in Irving, Tex. “There is progress, but we’ve all heard that before.”
The Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers and St. Louis Rams are widely considered the most likely teams to relocate to Los Angeles. All three could potentially exit their stadium leases next season, and reports surfaced in October indicating the NFL considers the Rams the most likely to relocate should a stadium deal be reached. Rams owner Stan Kroenke owns a 60-acre plot in Inglewood, Calif., that is reportedly the most likely site for a stadium.
Another site could be the L.A. Convention Center, which the NFL favors, according to the Times. Developer Anschutz Entertainment Group received a six-month extension in October to identify a team for a proposed stadium at the site. The city wants a new convention center near the Staples Center, but in what the Times terms a "game of cat and mouse," no side appears willing to build a stadium until a team has agreed to move to Los Angeles. City mayor Eric Garcetti has also been unwilling to subsidize the construction of a stadium.
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The Rams have been unable to reach an agreement with the St. Louis Sports Commission to refurbish their stadium in St. Louis, the Edward Jones Dome. According to the Times, the commission shared with the league before Thanksgiving preliminary plans for a stadium near the Mississippi River and north of the Gateaway Arch in St. Louis, as well as other sites.
The Chargers could also oppose another team moving to Los Angeles, though ProFootballTalk.com's Mike Florio reported in October that those concerns could be resolved, possibly with the Chargers receiving a larger percentage of the relocation fee than other teams.
- Mike Fiammetta
