National Football League faults cities’ plans

In a report written by the National Football League issued to all 32 teams, commissioner Roger Goodell called the proposed National Football League stadium solutions in Oakland, St. Louis, and San Diego “unsatisfactory and inadequate”.

“His bold move to announce he’s building a stadium in Inglewood is what set off the a year ago of frenzy”, said Marc Ganis, a sports consultant who helped the Rams and Raiders leave Los Angeles for St. Louis and Oakland in 1995.

However, the report does not think St. Louis, which has a $1.1-billion riverfront stadium plan to replace the Edward Jones Dome, and San Diego, which has a similarly priced plan for Mission Valley to replace Qualcomm Stadium, which is contingent on a public referendum in June, have workable stadium plans to keep their teams. San Diego, according to Goodell has done too little and taxpayers have to approve their proposal via a vote this coming summer. Chargers owner Dean Spanos and Raiders owner Mark Davis, who want to build a $1.75 billion stadium in Carson, are opposed to the Jones plan. When the Raiders and Rams both played in L.A., games were often blacked out on local T.V. because the teams failed to sell out tickets, Vrooman said.

Whatever the case, the team or teams that do not come to Los Angeles will need to be rewarded in some fashion – extra money from the group fund, a new stadium, the right to host special events like Super Bowls and drafts, etc. After that, owners will scrutinize the Carson and Inglewood projects and ultimately vote on which one they believe will have the best long-term success in Los Angeles.

In just a few days, the future of the San Diego Chargers could be decided at a hotel in Houston.

Raiders fans at Ricky’s maintained a cautious optimism that their team will still be playing in the Bay Area in 2016, while acknowledging the distinct possibility of losing them again to the bigger market down south.

“It’s time to get a conclusion”, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay told reporters in NY this week during committee meetings to evaluate the applications. “We want them back”.

Goodell also notes in the report, the source said, that the league hasn’t approved a franchise relocation in almost two decades, and continues to place a “high value” on team stability. Rams fans in Los Angeles gathered at the Coliseum this past Saturday in hopes of their former franchise’s possible return back to Southern California.

In January 2015, Kroenke proposed a $1.86 billion stadium next to the Forum in Inglewood, which effectively jump-started the competing relocation bids.

According to the report, none of the three teams would be breaking its lease by leaving. The report was obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

“We have not seen the report, nor do we expect to, as that would be a matter between the league office and team owners”, it said in a statement.

“Any NFL Club that signs on to this (new) proposal in St Louis will be well on the road to financial ruin, and the league will be harmed”, it read while also citing St Louis ranks 61st out of 64 major cities in recent economic growth and has the lowest population growth of any major U.S. city.