As NFL nears Los Angeles decision, stadium rhetoric heats up
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http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow ... story.html
As NFL nears Los Angeles decision, stadium rhetoric heats up
Sam Farmer
Two members of the NFL’s Committee on Los Angeles Opportunities appear to be doing what they can to pry the Chargers loose from San Diego in hopes of paving their path to the Los Angeles market.
The Chargers have teamed with the Oakland Raiders to propose a stadium in Carson. The St. Louis Rams are backing a competing stadium plan in Inglewood.
A meeting planned for Thursday between Houston Texans owner Bob McNair and San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer was canceled. That news came hours after the Houston Chronicle published comments by McNair that were sharply critical of San Diego’s efforts to keep the Chargers.
“In San Diego, they’ve been trying for about 15 years,” McNair told the newspaper. “They’ve had all kinds of political problems there. At one time, half the council went to jail or something. It’s been pretty bad. It’s hard to negotiate when you’ve got to go to the jail to negotiate.
“So they haven’t accomplished anything. They’re saying they’re going to do something now. But in order to do it, they’d have to have a referendum and the referendum isn’t until next June. Well, we can’t have these teams in limbo. You need to have certainty, and you don’t know if the referendum would pass or fail. We can’t take what they’re saying very seriously.”
McNair’s comments come a week after Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger disclosed that he joined the Chargers-Raiders effort at the urging of Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, who approached him in August with a specific request to help those two teams win the L.A. derby. Richardson asked for confidentiality at the time, and Iger said the NFL wasn’t informed until much later.
NFL owners backing either the Inglewood or Carson plans have been aggressively working the phones, lobbying other owners on behalf of their projects. Though several owners are entrenched in their support of one plan or the other, many more are on the fence. According to several individuals with knowledge of the situation, Richardson has campaigned particularly hard for the Carson project, even in the midst of his team’s undefeated season.
Simultaneously this week, McNair praised the efforts of St. Louis in trying to keep the Rams. The St. Louis Board of Aldermen voted Tuesday and moved the city’s financial contribution forward for a final vote Friday.
“St. Louis, they have come up with a proposal that is getting pretty close, in my opinion, to being an attractive proposal,” McNair told the Chronicle. “And if they do come up with an attractive proposal, then in my view, my personal opinion, I don’t think the Rams will receive the approval to relocate. So that would mean then you’d have two teams, San Diego and Oakland, that would be going into Carson. They have a partnership to build a stadium.”
It is highly unusual for an NFL owner to speak with such specificity on the L.A. situation, and even more uncommon for one to unmistakably side with one proposal over another. Typically, owners have either been disengaged on the issue or have tried to play it down the middle, at least publicly.
By every indication, Richardson and McNair are doing their best to rally support for the Carson plan in advance of Jan. 12-13 meetings in Houston in which owners hope to resolve an L.A. soap opera that has slogged on for two decades.
The NFL has asked the three home markets to submit their best and final offers by Dec. 30, and the league will begin accepting relocation applications Jan. 4.
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Although the NFL says it hasn’t taken a straw poll of owners, neither the Carson nor the Inglewood plan is believed to have the requisite 24 votes to pass.
The timing of the Carson push is notable because it comes just before the Chargers play their home finale Sunday against Miami, further ratcheting up the tension in San Diego. In a sense, that only helps the Chargers’ argument. The worse that game looks, the more toxic the feeling surrounding it, the more it strengthens the team’s case that it absolutely needs to leave.
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As NFL nears Los Angeles decision, stadium rhetoric heats up
Sam Farmer
Two members of the NFL’s Committee on Los Angeles Opportunities appear to be doing what they can to pry the Chargers loose from San Diego in hopes of paving their path to the Los Angeles market.
The Chargers have teamed with the Oakland Raiders to propose a stadium in Carson. The St. Louis Rams are backing a competing stadium plan in Inglewood.
A meeting planned for Thursday between Houston Texans owner Bob McNair and San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer was canceled. That news came hours after the Houston Chronicle published comments by McNair that were sharply critical of San Diego’s efforts to keep the Chargers.
“In San Diego, they’ve been trying for about 15 years,” McNair told the newspaper. “They’ve had all kinds of political problems there. At one time, half the council went to jail or something. It’s been pretty bad. It’s hard to negotiate when you’ve got to go to the jail to negotiate.
“So they haven’t accomplished anything. They’re saying they’re going to do something now. But in order to do it, they’d have to have a referendum and the referendum isn’t until next June. Well, we can’t have these teams in limbo. You need to have certainty, and you don’t know if the referendum would pass or fail. We can’t take what they’re saying very seriously.”
McNair’s comments come a week after Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger disclosed that he joined the Chargers-Raiders effort at the urging of Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, who approached him in August with a specific request to help those two teams win the L.A. derby. Richardson asked for confidentiality at the time, and Iger said the NFL wasn’t informed until much later.
NFL owners backing either the Inglewood or Carson plans have been aggressively working the phones, lobbying other owners on behalf of their projects. Though several owners are entrenched in their support of one plan or the other, many more are on the fence. According to several individuals with knowledge of the situation, Richardson has campaigned particularly hard for the Carson project, even in the midst of his team’s undefeated season.
Simultaneously this week, McNair praised the efforts of St. Louis in trying to keep the Rams. The St. Louis Board of Aldermen voted Tuesday and moved the city’s financial contribution forward for a final vote Friday.
“St. Louis, they have come up with a proposal that is getting pretty close, in my opinion, to being an attractive proposal,” McNair told the Chronicle. “And if they do come up with an attractive proposal, then in my view, my personal opinion, I don’t think the Rams will receive the approval to relocate. So that would mean then you’d have two teams, San Diego and Oakland, that would be going into Carson. They have a partnership to build a stadium.”
It is highly unusual for an NFL owner to speak with such specificity on the L.A. situation, and even more uncommon for one to unmistakably side with one proposal over another. Typically, owners have either been disengaged on the issue or have tried to play it down the middle, at least publicly.
By every indication, Richardson and McNair are doing their best to rally support for the Carson plan in advance of Jan. 12-13 meetings in Houston in which owners hope to resolve an L.A. soap opera that has slogged on for two decades.
The NFL has asked the three home markets to submit their best and final offers by Dec. 30, and the league will begin accepting relocation applications Jan. 4.
Get the latest in sports with our free newsletter >>
Although the NFL says it hasn’t taken a straw poll of owners, neither the Carson nor the Inglewood plan is believed to have the requisite 24 votes to pass.
The timing of the Carson push is notable because it comes just before the Chargers play their home finale Sunday against Miami, further ratcheting up the tension in San Diego. In a sense, that only helps the Chargers’ argument. The worse that game looks, the more toxic the feeling surrounding it, the more it strengthens the team’s case that it absolutely needs to leave.
[email protected]