Vinny: Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is proposing Rams, Chargers NFL team-up in LA
PostPosted:9 years 6 months ago
http://www.dailynews.com/sports/2016010 ... m-up-in-la
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is proposing Rams, Chargers NFL team-up in LA
By Vincent Bonsignore, Los Angeles Daily News
Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones has sent a letter to NFL owners proposing a deal between the Chargers and Rams, the Los Angeles News Group has learned. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Less than four days before the National Football League will gather in Houston to decide what team or teams will relocate to Los Angeles, things are beginning to heat up.
The league’s 32 owners will gather in Texas on Tueday and Wednesday to decide between the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers joint stadium bid in Carson and the St. Louis Rams stadium proposal in Inglewood.
The winning bid requires 24 votes among league owners.
But on a busy Saturday, the path to deciding an outcome cleared up a bit, and the groundwork for a potential negotiated solution was laid by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
First, Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a letter to the Chargers, Raiders and Rams indicating they are all eligible for relocation consideration to Los Angeles.
In real talk, it means the NFL has decided none of the home markets have presented viable stadium plans or compelling enough arguments to deny the Raiders, Rams and Chargers relocation eligibility.
That is particularly stark news to St. Louis, which has approved a $400 million contribution to a $1.1 billion stadium it hoped would keep the Rams locked in St. Louis.
The Rams were never interested, and argued they are eligible to relocate based on a breach St. Louis made to the original lease it agreed upon in luring the Rams to St. Louis from Missouri.
Essentially, St. Louis declined an arbitrator’s ruling to pay $700 million in upgrades to lift the Edward Jones Dome to top-tier status in the NFL. In doing so, it allowed the Rams to convert their lease at the EJD to one-year leases, with the intent to relocate.
With relocation eligibility out of the way, the dynamics of next week’s owners vote will move from relocation validity to what site and what team combination the NFL believes best fits the Los Angeles market.
To that end, the Los Angeles News Group has learned Jones forwarded a letter to the NFL proposing an alternative solution in which the Rams and Chargers team up in Inglewood.
Rams owner Stan Kroenke has offered a 50/50 equity partner deal with either the Chargers or Raiders, but Jones is now stepping up in proposing a deal between the Chargers and Rams specifically.
The Chargers, though, remain committed to the Raiders, and pointed to a letter owner Dean Spanos sent last month to the NFL’s six-owner Los Angeles opportunities committee in which he rejected Kroenke’s offer.
In the letter, Spanos wrote: “Nothing in Stan’s letter gives me any reason to reconsider my partnership with (Raiders owner) Mark Davis and our chosen stadium site. I firmly believe that the proposal we have jointly made is in the best interests of the entire league and is in complete compliance with the league’s relocation policies.”
So for now, it appears Spanos is holding firm with the Raiders.
Which sets up a fascinating couple of days in Houston this week.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is proposing Rams, Chargers NFL team-up in LA
By Vincent Bonsignore, Los Angeles Daily News
Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones has sent a letter to NFL owners proposing a deal between the Chargers and Rams, the Los Angeles News Group has learned. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Less than four days before the National Football League will gather in Houston to decide what team or teams will relocate to Los Angeles, things are beginning to heat up.
The league’s 32 owners will gather in Texas on Tueday and Wednesday to decide between the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers joint stadium bid in Carson and the St. Louis Rams stadium proposal in Inglewood.
The winning bid requires 24 votes among league owners.
But on a busy Saturday, the path to deciding an outcome cleared up a bit, and the groundwork for a potential negotiated solution was laid by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
First, Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a letter to the Chargers, Raiders and Rams indicating they are all eligible for relocation consideration to Los Angeles.
In real talk, it means the NFL has decided none of the home markets have presented viable stadium plans or compelling enough arguments to deny the Raiders, Rams and Chargers relocation eligibility.
That is particularly stark news to St. Louis, which has approved a $400 million contribution to a $1.1 billion stadium it hoped would keep the Rams locked in St. Louis.
The Rams were never interested, and argued they are eligible to relocate based on a breach St. Louis made to the original lease it agreed upon in luring the Rams to St. Louis from Missouri.
Essentially, St. Louis declined an arbitrator’s ruling to pay $700 million in upgrades to lift the Edward Jones Dome to top-tier status in the NFL. In doing so, it allowed the Rams to convert their lease at the EJD to one-year leases, with the intent to relocate.
With relocation eligibility out of the way, the dynamics of next week’s owners vote will move from relocation validity to what site and what team combination the NFL believes best fits the Los Angeles market.
To that end, the Los Angeles News Group has learned Jones forwarded a letter to the NFL proposing an alternative solution in which the Rams and Chargers team up in Inglewood.
Rams owner Stan Kroenke has offered a 50/50 equity partner deal with either the Chargers or Raiders, but Jones is now stepping up in proposing a deal between the Chargers and Rams specifically.
The Chargers, though, remain committed to the Raiders, and pointed to a letter owner Dean Spanos sent last month to the NFL’s six-owner Los Angeles opportunities committee in which he rejected Kroenke’s offer.
In the letter, Spanos wrote: “Nothing in Stan’s letter gives me any reason to reconsider my partnership with (Raiders owner) Mark Davis and our chosen stadium site. I firmly believe that the proposal we have jointly made is in the best interests of the entire league and is in complete compliance with the league’s relocation policies.”
So for now, it appears Spanos is holding firm with the Raiders.
Which sets up a fascinating couple of days in Houston this week.
