NFL owners hoping to set LA vote deadline at meetings

There are not expected to be any votes at this meeting, no straw polls on which owners support which project, or any Hail Mary-type solutions offered. That would provide a condensed window during which owners would evaluate offers from the home markets before the special meeting on January 12-13.

There also is nothing close to a clear consensus on approval of either of the stadium proposals for L.A.

“Clearly it’s a leverage vehicle”, said Andy Dolich, a sports business consultant and former executive with several Bay Area teams.

Various media reports out of Dallas indicated that some owners expressed confidence that a vote would be held in January.

Three of the six owners on the league’s L.A. committee said this week that they want to get a deal done as soon as next month.

Numerous other owners would prefer to wait until late February or March to decide which teams will relocate. “And I don’t know where it would fall in the ultimate category of tiebreakers”. The city and county of San Diego have proposed building a stadium in Mission Valley, but there have been no negotiations with the team since June because of a dispute over the way an environmental study was conducted. If he gets this decision wrong, those don’t even make the first paragraph of his professional obit.

Rams owner Stan Kroenke wants to build and largely finance his stadium on a site he owns in Inglewood. Would the Rams be the landlord, or would it be an equal partnership between the Rams and a second team at the Rams’ proposed Inglewood stadium? The Rams, one of the long shots to earn that right, are making a last-ditch effort to partner up with the Chargers to get the job done, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rappoport.

The Raiders, Rams and Chargers are interested in moving to LA, which has not had an National Football League franchise since the Rams and Raiders left after the 1994 season.

The Raiders did not return calls for comment Wednesday. “In the days ahead, we look forward to hearing directly from league and team officials to continue our discussions and determine next steps as to our proposal in St. Louis”. Currently, there is an estimated $400 million shortfall. Certainly the fans I think are the most important.

On Wednesday, the owners watched videos of Oakland’s San Diego’s and St. Louis’ recent town hall meetings and then heard from Davis, Spanos and Kroenke. The Oakland Raiders are also a leading candidate to move to southern California again.

“It’s easy to say, ‘I want to stay, ‘” he said, referring to Mark Davis.