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NFL Wisely Clears More of Path for Raiders, Rams to Move to L.A.
By Jeric Griffin @JericGriffin on June 12, 2015
The evolution of the NFL’s move back to Los Angeles has been an interesting one, if nothing else. What once started out as three franchises in an every-team-for-itself battle for a new home in L.A. is transforming into a neat, sensible plan to get the Oakland Raiders and St Louis Rams back “home,” even if it is a little rushed.
On Friday morning, it was revealed the rumors of the league looking into temporary homes for two teams in 2016 are indeed true. Pending litigation regarding the Rose Bowl was wiped out and now it’s ready to host a team next fall while a new stadium is built. Now the league will presumably lock in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as a second spot to temporary host a second team, meaning everything is pretty much set for NFL games to be played in L.A. during the 2016 season.
Part of the previously mentioned evolution included the Raiders teaming up with the San Diego Chargers, a division rival, to buy land and propose a stadium in Carson, California. That would have resulted in conference swapping, which nobody wants.
At the same time, Rams owner Stan Kroenke has been plotting a move back to L.A. ever since he purchased land in Inglewood in January 2014. While remaining separate from the Raiders/Chargers movement, he made it clear he’d take the Rams back to Southern California with or without league approval while slyly mentioning his stadium would be able to house two teams. He knew what would happen all along.
Sure enough, San Diego has pulled off the unlikely with a legit proposal for a new stadium and the Chargers are actually listening to this one. It’s also likely the Chargers got wise and realized they’d never have the fan base they do in San Diego, especially since there are still tons of Raiders and Rams fans in the L.A. area.
So now it appears as if our originals prediction will hold true: The Raiders and Rams will be back in L.A. for the 2016 NFL season, albeit in temporary homes (there’s no word yet on which team will play in the Rose Bowl and which will play in the L.A. Coliseum, assuming it’s chosen as the second interim arena).
After that, the two teams will share the new stadium in Inglewood, which the Raiders will undoubtedly help to finance considering Mark Davis has been adamant his team has $500 million to spend on a new stadium. Assuming there are no hiccups in the league approving the new shared move, ground will be broken on the stadium before the end of the 2015 calendar year and it will be open for business by the 2018 NFL season.
Considering what could have happened (i.e. lawsuits about which teams get to go to L.A., Kroenke bulldozing his way into three teams ending up there, two teams switching conferences, etc.), the league deserves some credit for evidently getting this right. Everything is kept nice and neat for the Raiders and Rams in their respective West divisions, the Chargers don’t shoot themselves in the foot by moving to a market that would never accept them and the NFL doesn’t lose the San Diego market for good.
NFL Wisely Clears More of Path for Raiders, Rams to Move to L.A.
By Jeric Griffin @JericGriffin on June 12, 2015
The evolution of the NFL’s move back to Los Angeles has been an interesting one, if nothing else. What once started out as three franchises in an every-team-for-itself battle for a new home in L.A. is transforming into a neat, sensible plan to get the Oakland Raiders and St Louis Rams back “home,” even if it is a little rushed.
On Friday morning, it was revealed the rumors of the league looking into temporary homes for two teams in 2016 are indeed true. Pending litigation regarding the Rose Bowl was wiped out and now it’s ready to host a team next fall while a new stadium is built. Now the league will presumably lock in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as a second spot to temporary host a second team, meaning everything is pretty much set for NFL games to be played in L.A. during the 2016 season.
Part of the previously mentioned evolution included the Raiders teaming up with the San Diego Chargers, a division rival, to buy land and propose a stadium in Carson, California. That would have resulted in conference swapping, which nobody wants.
At the same time, Rams owner Stan Kroenke has been plotting a move back to L.A. ever since he purchased land in Inglewood in January 2014. While remaining separate from the Raiders/Chargers movement, he made it clear he’d take the Rams back to Southern California with or without league approval while slyly mentioning his stadium would be able to house two teams. He knew what would happen all along.
Sure enough, San Diego has pulled off the unlikely with a legit proposal for a new stadium and the Chargers are actually listening to this one. It’s also likely the Chargers got wise and realized they’d never have the fan base they do in San Diego, especially since there are still tons of Raiders and Rams fans in the L.A. area.
So now it appears as if our originals prediction will hold true: The Raiders and Rams will be back in L.A. for the 2016 NFL season, albeit in temporary homes (there’s no word yet on which team will play in the Rose Bowl and which will play in the L.A. Coliseum, assuming it’s chosen as the second interim arena).
After that, the two teams will share the new stadium in Inglewood, which the Raiders will undoubtedly help to finance considering Mark Davis has been adamant his team has $500 million to spend on a new stadium. Assuming there are no hiccups in the league approving the new shared move, ground will be broken on the stadium before the end of the 2015 calendar year and it will be open for business by the 2018 NFL season.
Considering what could have happened (i.e. lawsuits about which teams get to go to L.A., Kroenke bulldozing his way into three teams ending up there, two teams switching conferences, etc.), the league deserves some credit for evidently getting this right. Everything is kept nice and neat for the Raiders and Rams in their respective West divisions, the Chargers don’t shoot themselves in the foot by moving to a market that would never accept them and the NFL doesn’t lose the San Diego market for good.