NFL Owners Headed To Houston

The Los Angeles Times reported that the full contents of the 48-page report were not authorized to be disclosed publicly yet.

Each of the competing plans has supporters. Jones’ plan would leave the Raiders out in the cold, striking match after match until their dreams and hopes for a new stadium – one that doesn’t require duct tape and soda cups to “fix” leaks – are finally extinguished and die.

With so many variables, the Committee on Los Angeles Opportunities could propose an alternative to the two proposals, sources with knowledge of the meetings said. The Raiders, Chargers and Rams and two stadium plans are competing for approval which would change the face of sports in L.A. Under Kroenke’s proposal, the stadium would be owned by both teams as part of a stadium company. The league has been rumored to want a team in the city for years, with this being the closest anyone has come in the 22 years since professional football left the City of Angels.

The uncertainty extends to next week’s meeting format. Melvin asked Grubman if the league could request the team forward its application to the city and county. “To get owner Mark Davis to go along with that, the total deal would likely include enough extra money to allow for Davis to build a new stadium in Oakland, or to otherwise give him a solution the mess he still has there”. 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. Lansford, who kicked barefooted from 1982-90, is a Los Angeles-area native.

“Another team or teams going in there would have a huge impact on that (revenue)”, Chargers chairman Dean Spanos said last week in a video posted on his team’s website.

The letter called for public hearings about safety and security for either stadium. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, however, isn’t exactly the type to sympathize with their nostalgic yearnings. He is expected to present the project to owners in Houston. L.A. would welcome all three teams back if it could, but I just don’t see how that’s feasible.

In St. Louis’ case, Goodell says the task force’s riverfront stadium plan is uncertain.

San Diego’s major issue was a public vote that couldn’t occur until June, while the St Louis proposal was flawed in the NFL’s portion of the financing. Oakland, while saying it wants to keep the Raiders, hasn’t made a formal proposal. Common sense points to another team’s relocation fees covering that gap, but we all know how much common sense the National Football League has. Attempts to land a team in L.A. have never gotten this far.

The three teams’ owners have found their home market solutions lacking, and fellow owners agree. Both can host two teams; both are ready for development now. I’ve experienced a few franchise highs, such as “The Greatest Show on Turf” during their Super Bowl winning 1999 season, but a lot of lows – they haven’t sniffed the playoffs since 2004.