[dieterbrock]

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/jas ... d-chargers

The San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders have reached an agreement for Bob Iger, the highly-regarded Disney chairman and CEO, to become chairman of their bid to build a stadium in Carson, Calif. according to sources with knowledge of the situation. It's a potentially game-changing move that could propel those teams to the Los Angeles market by next season. The teams are expected to announce the move shortly, with those clubs assembled in New York for a significant meeting with NFL officials later Wednesday.

Iger, who will remain as Disney's chairman and CEO, will become the non-executive chairman of Carson Holdings, LLC and oversee all major initiatives with the venture, including stadium design, naming rights and fan experience, and will be responsible for guiding construction and operation of the facility. The deal is contingent on the NFL owners approving the Carson stadium plan for construction.

Iger has a world-renowned reputation in the entertainment realm, he is an expert on the LA market and he brings extensive Disney acumen to this project, which is competing with Rams owner Stan Kroenke's plan for Inglewood, Calif., in the race to relocate to Southern California.

[moklerman]

Seems like a desperation name-drop at the 11th hour to me. Stan's been ready to go for a year and is ready to break ground but the NFL is going to now go with the Charaiders because the Disney CEO wants to moonlight? How is he going to focus on Carson when he's running Disney?

Now, if Disney is ready to buy into a team or two in the NFL(which I'm not sure they can even do since corporations aren't allowed to own a team as far as I know) then I could see it being news. But this is just more of the same from the Charaiders. Wasn't Carmen Policy or Eddie DeBartolo already brought in to head this project?

I am soooooooooooooo ready for this to get resolved. Less than a month from the presumed announcement of which team(s) will be in LA and the Charaiders change leadership? Important note, the deal is CONTINGENT on the Carson plan getting approval from the NFL. Which it likely won't. This reminds me of the naming rights that AEG attained for their stadium that didn't really have a leg to stand on.

[Hacksaw]

Totally agree on every point Mokler. Thanks for typing all that for me too. lol
Nice name drop the day of the real deal meeting. Same with who ever scheduled the FAA bomb last night.
Kind of obvious don'tcha think?

Where we might disagree, I will be so in favor of Stan going rogue and move the team and build his stadium despite these other tools. They held him up a year just so these other fools can get their ducks in a row, even when their ducks are lame.

[dieterbrock]

I dunno man.
Iger's play here is what makes me wonder. Whats in it for him? I think he's done with Disney in 2018 and gains a share of equity with the Raiders.
This isnt a Carmen Policy name drop IMO, Iger name has much sharper teeth. And the relationship between Disney and LA is a strong one.

My fear all along has been, if LA is no longer an option and St louis isnt either, then where does Stan go? Thanks to the way its been handled and the apparent apathy towards Kroenke in St Louis, I see no way he keeps the team there. And no way does he chip in on that stadium the way the "financing" plays out

[bluecoconuts]

I dunno man.
Iger's play here is what makes me wonder. Whats in it for him? I think he's done with Disney in 2018 and gains a share of equity with the Raiders.
This isnt a Carmen Policy name drop IMO, Iger name has much sharper teeth. And the relationship between Disney and LA is a strong one.

My fear all along has been, if LA is no longer an option and St louis isnt either, then where does Stan go? Thanks to the way its been handled and the apparent apathy towards Kroenke in St Louis, I see no way he keeps the team there. And no way does he chip in on that stadium the way the "financing" plays out

I think Toronto or maybe London if LA is closed.

I think Iger is a heavy hitter as well, and will do a lot to comfort the on the fence owners who are worried about the stadium. It does a lot to bring Carson closer to Inglewood in terms of end result.

[moklerman]

I dunno man.
Iger's play here is what makes me wonder. Whats in it for him? I think he's done with Disney in 2018 and gains a share of equity with the Raiders.
This isnt a Carmen Policy name drop IMO, Iger name has much sharper teeth. And the relationship between Disney and LA is a strong one.

My fear all along has been, if LA is no longer an option and St louis isnt either, then where does Stan go? Thanks to the way its been handled and the apparent apathy towards Kroenke in St Louis, I see no way he keeps the team there. And no way does he chip in on that stadium the way the "financing" plays out

Stan's got plenty of options. First, he can just stay at the EJD, rent free, just like he's been doing for another 10 years. Second, he can go rogue and just build in LA and let the NFL deal with it. Third, he could move the team to London. Fourth, he could kiss and make up with STL and build a sports mecca there that he controls.

Not sure what Iger would mean to the situation. Wasn't Disney in bed with the Angels for a while and what did that really matter? Maybe Iger is eyeing the future and wants in on the Raiders but what does he offer if he isn't at Disney? If it's Iger as opposed to Disney, I don't see much of a problem. Bascially, it's one thing to be at Disney and have billions of dollars of resources and be in a position of strength and then have some success. It's entirely different to be low chips at the table and try to push your way around. Stan is the one with the money in this scenario and I don't see anything on Iger's resume' to indicate him out-maneuvering a true big fish.

[SoCalRam78]

You guys fall for everything, right? On the eve of the NFL meetings an FAA reports comes out suggesting Inglewood could be dangerous for flights and now Carson has hired another game changer? How many game changers is that now? Media getting all worked up. As Rogin says, this crap is all planted strategically.

At the end of the day, the Carson site still doesn't have a bulldozer on it, still is completely investment banked financed and based on ludicrous PSL sales while Inglewood is privately financed and more shovel ready. And that's not even getting into the logistics of moving two teams at once, finding temporary homes, conference realignment or the issues regarding the marketability of both the Raiders and Chargers.

Stan will never make a big announcement or game changer because he's never needed one.

[SoCalRam78]

You guys fall for everything, right? On the eve of the NFL meetings an FAA reports comes out suggesting Inglewood could be dangerous for flights and now Carson has hired another game changer? How many game changers is that now? Media getting all worked up. As Rogin says, this crap is all planted strategically.

At the end of the day, the Carson site still doesn't have a bulldozer on it, still is completely investment banked financed and based on ludicrous PSL sales while Inglewood is privately financed and more shovel ready. And that's not even getting into the logistics of moving two teams at once, finding temporary homes or the issues regarding the marketability of both the Raiders and Chargers.

Some good points here, but Iger's been very successful.
I'm guessing this is the "big name investor" that's been floated for the Raiders and that he'll be buying a portion of them in a couple of years. Article I read says he gets the option to buy one.
Does his involvement make the project more attractive? Sure, I don't see how it doesn't.
Does it change the timeline? No. But.. we have to see how the FAA thing affects the Inglewood timeline, if at all.

It's very interesting.

My main question remains... does the NFL really think dropping 2 teams into LA after not being there for 20 years is a good idea?

Iger is worth around 100 million per the internet, which isn't much when it comes to absurd NFL valuations. Sure, he's a successful CEO, but Disney has nothing to do with this deal, it's a side gig for Iger. Sure he's the Raider investor?

[SoCalRam78]

[BuiltRamTough]

You guys fall for everything, right? On the eve of the NFL meetings an FAA reports comes out suggesting Inglewood could be dangerous for flights and now Carson has hired another game changer? How many game changers is that now? Media getting all worked up. As Rogin says, this crap is all planted strategically.

At the end of the day, the Carson site still doesn't have a bulldozer on it, still is completely investment banked financed and based on ludicrous PSL sales while Inglewood is privately financed and more shovel ready. And that's not even getting into the logistics of moving two teams at once, finding temporary homes, conference realignment or the issues regarding the marketability of both the Raiders and Chargers.

Stan will never make a big announcement or game changer because he's never needed one.

Agreed. The NFL2LA issue has us all fatigued. A couple of more months of this garbage left.