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This is the first I've heard of Kroenke's supporters advising him to join the Spanos in Carson. Anyone hear that anywhere else?

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/kroe ... s-nfl.html

Issues between Rams' and Chargers' owners dampen potential for cooperation
Nov. 21, 2015 Updated 7:26 p.m.
By SCOTT M. REID / STAFF WRITER

There are some in NFL that believe what's in the league's best interest for a return to Los Angeles is for St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke and San Diego Chargers President Dean Spanos, left, to join forces.

As Rams president, John Shaw was the driving force behind the franchise leaving Anaheim for St. Louis following the 1994 season. Now in 2013, nearly 20 years after Rams’ and Raiders’ exits from Southern California, Shaw, who left the Rams in 2011, had set up a dinner in Los Angeles between Rams owner Stan Kroenke and Dean Spanos of the Chargers to discuss the NFL’s potential return to the Los Angeles-Orange County market.

Eventually the conversation turned to Inglewood. Kroenke was intrigued by a 60-acre plot between the Hollywood Park race track and the Forum. Spanos had no interest in Inglewood, complaining there were too many traffic and parking issues with the site.

Still the night seemed a success. Both owners agreed to stay in touch, yet when Spanos tried to reach Kroenke several times in the following months he never heard back.

Since that night two years ago, Kroenke and Spanos have gone their separate ways, pursuing vastly different visions for the NFL’s return to Los Angeles.

Kroenke wants to build the world’s most expensive stadium, a $1.86-billion, roofed, multi-purpose venue on the Inglewood site. Spanos has joined Raiders owner Mark Davis in pushing for a $1.75-billion football stadium next to the 405 freeway in Carson.

“If you look at what those different visions are, you see the different perceptions for what is best for the NFL in Los Angeles,” said Marc Ganis, president of SportsCorp, a Chicago-based sports business consultant firm, who was involved in the Rams’ and Raiders’ relocations from Southern California. “There’s the perception that Los Angeles is a one-team market. There’s the perception that it works better with two teams.

“Is it best to build a major entertainment complex that is part of a larger development or build the best open air football stadium in the country? Which is in the best interest of the NFL in its re-introduction into Los Angeles?”

Officials from the Chargers and Rams declined to comment for this story.

With the NFL holding meetings next month outside of Dallas that should shape the final stages of the league’s return to the nation’s second-largest market, there are some in NFL that believe what’s in the league’s best interest is for Kroenke and Spanos to join forces.

“Dallas,” Ganis said, “is the start of the fourth quarter.”

Kroenke allies, before a league meeting in New York last month, pushed the idea of the Chargers joining the Rams in Inglewood, a prospect Spanos brushed off.

“I’m only focused on Carson,” Spanos said.

At another round of league meetings last week in New York, Kroenke allies again suggested the two teams join forces, this time floating the possibility of the Rams sharing the Carson stadium with the Chargers.

Both plans would be contingent upon Davis, who while committed to the Carson project has expressed some openness – however slight – to finding a solution in the East Bay,.They could work if he puttogether a financing package for a downsized $900-million stadium in Oakland with $500 million coming from Davis, another $200 million coming out of the Rams’ and Chargers’ relocation fees and another $200 million from private investors.

But Oakland’s efforts to keep the Raiders in Northern California have been undermined by one failed stadium plan after another, and there is little to suggest the latest idea floated in the NFL’s board rooms and conference calls would be any more successful.

Furthermore, Spanos is committed to Davis as a full partner in the Carson venture. The longtime bitter AFC West rivals have grown close in the past year, and Carolina owner Jerry Richardson, one of Spanos’ closest friends among the league’s owners, has emerged as a mentor to Davis through the relocation process.

But there are larger issues that make a Kroenke-Spanos pact unlikely. Their visions for the NFL’s return to Los Angeles aren’t the only differences the two men have had. Spanos in particular is reluctant to join forces with Kroenke because of a series of events since the Shaw-orchestrated dinner.

Both men came to dinner that night increasingly seeing Los Angeles as an option, having failed to make progress in securing viable stadium solutions in St. Louis and San Diego.

The Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis needed a major overhaul. Later negotiations would break down between the Rams and the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority. After the 2014 season, the team was able to opt out of the 30-year agreement the Rams signed when they relocated from Anaheim in 1995 because of trigger clause in the lease.

That “first tier” clause required the dome be among the 25 percent of NFL stadiums, a standard the venue has failed to meet. The Rams’ lease is now on a year-by-year basis.

Earlier this year, San Diego city officials confirmed that Qualcomm Stadium needs at least $80 million in basic improvements. When he met with Kroenke, Spanos still hoped to work something out in San Diego but was concerned the Rams or another team relocating in Los Angeles would threaten a Chargers franchise that says it draws 25 percent of its season ticket holders and marketing and sponsorship revenues from Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties.

Both Spanos and Kroenke had discussions with the Anschutz Entertainment Group about moving into Farmers Field, the downtown Los Angeles stadium proposed by AEG. Spanos met both with AEG chief executive Tim Leiweke and the company’s owner, Philip Anschutz, the Colorado billionaire.

But the Farmers Field project had what NFL senior vice president Eric Grubman calls the “too many mouths to feed” problem. Neither Kroenke nor Spanos, nor the NFL, saw how the project – with several multi-development pieces and required Anschutz to own a significant portion of one of the teams – could generate enough revenue for it to make sense for all the parties.

Kroenke wasn’t only person with his eye on the Inglewood property. The plot had been purchased by Walmart, which hoped to build a 200,000-square foot “supercenter” grocery and retail complex on the site. But the company’s plans ran into several obstacles, including Inglewood voters rejecting in 2004 the company’s plans to avoid an environmental review and public hearings on the project.

In late 2013, Madison Square Garden chairman James L. Dolan and music uber manager Irving Azoff, who had joined forces to create Madison Square Garden Entertainment and operate the Forum, were in deep negotiations with Walmart to purchase the property. But with Azoff and MSG officials only hours away from boarding a plane to Arkansas to finalize the deal, Walmart executives called to say the deal was off. The property had been sold to another buyer.

Eventually MSG executives were able to unravel that the buyer, Pincay RE, LLC was a company set up by Kroenke, who is married to Ann Walton Kroenke, daughter of Walmart co-founder James “Bud” Walton. Kroenke paid $90 million for the land, according to NFL officials. Documents filed with Los Angeles County show he has a $71.7 million loan on the plot with JP Morgan Chase.

The Walmart deal and how it was handled concerned Chargers officials. Concern turned to anger following another Kroenke move in early January of this year. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told the Rams, Chargers and Raiders in December 2014 not to take any action toward relocating to Los Angeles and publicly announced that relocation would be put off for at least another year.

Kroenke announced in January plans to build an 80,000-seat stadium for an NFL team in Inglewood as part of a larger commercial, retail and real estate development on the Walmart plot and 238 additional acres owned by the Stockbridge Capital Group, a real estate investment management group. The stadium and the multi-purpose development are backed by the Hollywood Park Land Company, a joint venture between Kroenke and Stockbridge.

Kroenke’s move caught the Chargers and Raiders by surprise and gave the Rams a significant lead in the race back to Los Angeles. Chargers officials were further irritated when the Hollywood Park Land Company and Inglewood city officials used a ballot initiative law to approve the stadium project without a drawn-out environmental review.

Under California law, if supporters of projects can secure the required number of signatures from registered voters to place an initiative on the ballot, local governments put the issue up for election or approve it outright. The Inglewood City Council unanimously approved the stadium project in February after the HPLC gathered the required number of signatures.

Chargers officials believe Kroenke and the HPLC stole the ballot initiative strategy that the Chargers first informed NFL officials of months earlier.

Even more than his issues with traffic and parking, Spanos’ primary concern with Inglewood is that by moving into the Hollywood Park stadium the Chargers would be tenant in another man’s house. He is an equal partner with Davis in the Carson project, which Spanos maintains has the accessibility and parking that he said are critical to the NFL’s successful return to Los Angeles.

Spanos’ issues with being a second team in Inglewood were reinforced during an August NFL meeting on the Los Angeles situation in suburban Chicago. Kroenke was asked during his presentation on the Inglewood project by Chicago Bears chairman George McCaskey if the stadium could host two franchises. Yes, Kroenke replied, a lease agreement with a second team could be drawn up very quickly. Spanos was not amused.

That some of Kroenke’s allies were floating the possibility of the Rams joining the Chargers in Carson during the most recent NFL meeting is a reflection of the perception that the Chargers and Raiders have caught and now passed the Rams in the race back to L.A.

While both Spanos and Kroenke are believed to have the nine votes from owners (or eight if Cincinnati owner Mike Brown abstains from voting, as some in the NFL expect) to block the other from relocating, the Chargers and Raiders are viewed as being closer to securing the 24 votes needed for approval.

Kroenke is backed by high-profile owners such as Jerry Jones of Dallas, Woody Johnson of the New York Jets, Daniel Snyder of Washington and Jeffrey Lurie of Philadelphia. Kroenke and Davis have the support of the NFL Committee on Los Angeles Opportunities, which consists of six influential owners including Richardson, Art Rooney of Pittsburgh, John Mara of the New York Giants and New England’s Robert Kraft.

“The right brain power and gravitas,” Ganis said, “…not just a bunch of yes men for the NFL senior staff.”

Both sides are busy not only trying to wrangle votes but attempting to dictate the relocation timetable. Spanos and Davis and their supporters, particularly on the Los Angeles committee, are pushing for a January decision on relocation. Rooney and Mara in particular want a decision sooner rather than later so the franchise or franchises not relocating can stop spending money on their Los Angeles stadium projects and begin to try to mend fences in their current home market.

The Jets’ Johnson, a Kroenke supporter, has floated the idea of pushing back the vote to March, which some in the league think would make it easy to roll the whole matter to 2017.It also would giveSan Diego city and county officials a chance to get a stadium initiative on the ballot next June.

“A great deal of arm twisting, lobbying and politicking,” Ganis said.

Joining the arm twisting is Spanos’ latest Los Angeles dinner partner, Robert Iger, chairman and chief executive officer of the Walt Disney Company. Iger earlier this month agreed to become the non-executive chairman of Carson Holdings, the company behind the stadium proposed by the Chargers and Raiders, should the league approve the teams’ relocation.

Iger will also have the option to purchase a minority, non-controlling share of either the Raiders or the Chargers after he leaves Disney.

“If you’re trying to get from 17 to 20 to 24 votes, you’re not hurt by adding Iger,” said David Carter, executive director of USC’s Sports Business Institute.

“People owe him a lot of favors,” Ganis said of Iger. “Important people owe him a lot of favors in the L.A. market.”

[Stranger]

the plot thickens

[bubbaramfan]

Yeah right, let the guy with no money dictate to the guy with billions.

[Stranger]

i wonder what ticked-off ESK at that dinner mtg (assuming the story is true)?

[SoCalRam78]

Yeah right. Spanos had all the ideas and Kroenke stole them from him

[The Ripper]

Reid says multiple times Chargers officials, it's the same one that spoon feeds him all of his stories. The other thing is Carson is not as lucrative as in Inglewood so no allies would suggest it.

[Hacksaw]

"At another round of league meetings last week in New York, Kroenke allies again suggested the two teams join forces, this time floating the possibility of the Rams sharing the Carson stadium with the Chargers."
Who are these "Kroenke allies" and when did they say that? I haven't heard that.

“Is it best to build a major entertainment complex that is part of a larger development or build the best open air football stadium in the country? The best in the league. The dirt is getting dirtier.

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Still no confirmation of Kroenke told to consider Carson.

Reid getting spoon fed by Fabiani. Zero cred

[BuiltRamTough]

Next weeks meeting could be a big meeting. I think that's when they'll decide on what to do, if they haven't decided already (conspiracy). Lol

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Next weeks meeting could be a big meeting. I think that's when they'll decide on what to do, if they haven't decided already (conspiracy). Lol

The meeting is at Jerry's place. I think he will have a lot more to say than usual.

Anyway, I feel a lot better that the meeting is in Dallas and not somewhere in the Carolinas.