[Elvis]

NFL: What to expect at today’s Committee on Los Angeles Opportunities meeting
Posted on June 10, 2015 by Vincent Bonsignore

The Rams and Chargers and Raiders will give updates to the NFL’s Committee on Los Angeles Opportunities about their local stadium situations and their stadium projects in Inglewood and Carson this afternoon in New York.

While part of the updates will involve what’s going on in St. Louis and San Diego and Oakland, make no mistake, this is about selling Inglewood or Carson as the site the NFL should chose for its triumphant return to Los Angeles.

And with the league closing in on a decision about who will relocate to Los Angeles by the end of 2015 – and at what site – the Rams and Chargers and Raiders will undoubtedly be selling their L.A. dreams today.

For the Rams, that means pushing owner Stan Kroenke’s Inglewood stadium site.

For the Raiders and Chargers, it’s extolling the virtues of the joint stadium they are proposing in Carson should new homes not emerge in Oakland and Dan Diego.

And what does that mean, exactly?

The Rams strategy appears to be selling their site and their long history in Los Angeles as insuring a successful return to Los Angeles, while also being willing participants in helping the Chargers and Raiders secure financially beneficial new stadiums and futures.

With a ready made fan base in L.A., the financial mite of a multi-billionaire owner, and an extravagant stadium on a site Los Angeles fans are familiar with, the Rams will push their plan as the best bet for the NFL’s re-entry into the second-biggest market in the country after a 20-year absence.

The thinking is clear: The NFL has one shot to get it right in L.A. and that’s the Rams in Inglewood. And with room to add another team, either the Chargers or Raiders can be brought on. Once that mission is completed, attention will turn to insuring the third team’s objectives are met.

As for the Chargers and Raiders sales pitch, longtime NFL executive Carmen Policy will lead the presentation. He gave me a preview of his update – which you can read here – and the basis is that Carson offers a solution to two California teams stadium situations. And they will do it as partners in a two-teamed owned stadium

As Policy told me:

“The NFL has been saying since I’ve been involved with NFL committees involved in L.A., whenever the NFL returns to L.A. it will do so with plans to bring two teams. There position is, eventually there will be two teams in L.A. Everything we have studied, everything we have looked at, says if you are going to bring two teams to L.A. the wise, most prudent, most strategic thinking to do is to bring them to L.A. at the same time. Part of that is marketing, but more importantly, we have found that the concept of owner-team, tenant-team doesn’t work. All it does is breed complexity, conflict and sometimes even contempt. One team will always be viewed as the home team. The other team is viewed as the team paying rent. So from the outset, you do it correctly so you aren’t building a stadium that the owner designs and oh, by the way, I’ll make accommodations for the second team and their idea of accommodations is putting in extra locker rooms.

“Look at the 49ers, that’s their stadium. They designed it. Everything about that stadium speaks to the 49ers and their ownership. They did design it in a way that you could say it accommodates a second team. But that second team wouldn’t just be a secondary tenant, they’d feel it all the way through and you couldn’t help but operate it in a fashion that reflects that.

“Here we are with a chance to take two California teams, in the two worst stadium situations in the NFL – they’re in trouble – and you can cure that with one move and build a spectacular building that each of those teams own. And it’s in the perfect available spot in L.A.

“If you just follow the logic, it pushes you to a logical conclusion. And we believe that is.”

Making that case continues today in New York. Down the road, all 32 owners will gather for a special meeting in Chicago August 11 to hear the latest updates to that point.

And at some point after that, the NFL will get down to the business of deciding what team or teams will relocate to Los Angeles, and where they will play.

[Elvis]

[Elvis]

http://www.insidestl.com/insideSTLcom/R ... oenke.aspx

U-T San Diego's Kevin Acee Talks Chargers' Stadium Situation, Says Spanos has Votes to Block Kroenke



Brendan Marks posted on June 10, 2015 09:28

U-T San Diego columnist Kevin Acee joined The Ryan Kelley Morning After Wednesday to talk about San Diego's stadium situation and how it relates to the Chargers' and Rams' future and the relocation saga in Los Angeles.

We've typed out most of the interview, which you can listen to in its entirety below:

People monitoring situation in San Diego as it relates to the Rams future. What's the latest with the Chargers and San Diego and any public vote?

"The mayor says 'We can do this, September 15, mail only ballot.' That's just not the case. There's still a lot to work out between the city and the Chargers. The Chargers have to agree what the city's asking. And that's not going to happen. It's getting close to me saying the Chargers are gone."

Could Chargers get into business with Kroenke?

"That could happen. They haven't talked recently about that happening. There's still so much to decide. There's probably going to be two teams there. But no one wants to be the second team. San Diego's only chance (of keeping the Chargers) is that (a team doesn't move to LA in 2016). Their only chance is to slow Kroenke's role (and hope to make quick progress on getting a new stadium built)."

More on not wanting to be the second team to move to the LA market:

"Unless the NFL can convince that second team...that they'll take care of them. You just don't want to be the second team in the market. It's going to be hard as it is. I haven't heard anybody say it'd be OK to be the second team (to go to LA)."

Does Dean Spanos want to move his Chargers there?

"Complicated question. I would say he wants to stay in San Diego. Always has. It's been a long time of the team 'trying.' They're the ones who has pushed the agenda. But the city hasn't done a darn thing until recently. And in that time...Dean Spanos got frustrated. So he's turned his attention to Los Angeles. He'd like to stay in San Diego. But (it's like a) marriage where the wife tells the husband forever he's got to change. And he doesn't. But eventually he did, and she still loves him. But in the mean time, she met a flashy guy up the road, she had an affair with him."

Do you think the other NFL owners look at St. Louis' situation and think the NFL and Kroenke are bargaining in good faith with the city?

"I think the owners have a good idea of what's happening in St. Louis. I think they're going to do. As of right now, I don't know the Rams have the support to go to Los Angeles. I don't know the Chargers for sure have the support to go to Los Angeles. I think they do. I'm positive the Chargers have the votes to block the Rams from going to Los Angeles. I've talked to a lot of people - including owners - who assures me Dean Spanos has the votes to block Stan Kroenke. I am told by several people I trust...that there is support for Dean Spanos to block Stan Kroenke from going this year. That's something Dean Spanos has worked very, very hard for...is making sure he's got that support."

More on owners and Kroenke:

"The guys are going to do whatever they want. I think about Robert Kraft and what he did with losing the draft picks and him just accepting the punishment from the NFL for the good of the NFL. That's what happening here. Two teams are going to leave. And the NFL is going to make that happen. I realiaze Kroenke is richer than almost every other owner combined. But he needs the NFL to let him do his business in the NFL."

Have you heard anything about Stan Kroenke eventually buying the Denver Broncos if/when Pat Bowlen passes away?
"I heard it...I've heard people have talked about. I don't know anything about imminent plans with an ownership transfer."

When you talk with the owners...what are the reasons for why they would block Kroenke?

"I've talked to owners...we're not having four-hour dinners. A lot of the reasons I will get is this: they want to make sure everyone's working together. There is a lot of empathy with Dean Spanos and what he's gone through and done. He's been telling the owners and the league about his situation in San Diego for 14 years. He's the model owner. Stan Kroenke is not. I know there's favors to be paid back. And I know there's a true belief that Dean Spanos has done everything he can to stay in San Diego (in the eyes of the NFL and its owners). (All that matters is the 31 other NFL owners' decisions)."

With Los Angeles being relatively close to San Diego, why is it the end of the world if the Chargers relocate there?

"I don't know if you have a place like this in Missouri. But Los Angeles is like another world for (us in San Diego). I'm talking about how we feel about Los Angeles. We hate LA. That's not just me. That's a pervading feeling of the solid majority of people who live here."

[TomSlick]

Good stories, Elvis. Thanks for the updates.

When the relocation subject popped up months (years?) ago, I was against it. I wanted the RAMS to stay in St. Louis because this moving around stuff makes the franchise look like a joke. However, after all this talk and speculation and a 50 page thread on RRF, I'm done with it. I want the RAMS back in LA. St. Louis looks to be playing with itself, Stan isn't that likeable, but he's willing to build one hell of a stadium that will be the envy of all professional sports teams. Now if Snead/Fisher could put a finished product on the field, the RAMS could be the number 1 selling team in team paraphernalia. Stan will have his brand.

[Elvis]

[Elvis]

I bet Policy is gonna say it went well for the Carson project...

[Hacksaw]

I wasn't aware they were meeting today. This meeting could be important.

[Elvis]

[den-the-coach]

I sure hope Carmen Policy doesn't end up screwing me twice(all those years with the 49ers). I wish him as much success with the Carson project as he had in Cleveland.

[Elvis]

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football ... xc.twitter

NFL's committee on LA opportunities meets in New York

57 MINUTES AGO • BY JIM THOMAS



The NFL's committee on Los Angeles opportunities met Wednesday in New York, with the owners of the Chargers, Raiders, and Rams in attendance — each accompanied by a small group of staff and advisors.

The meeting included a "home market" update on St. Louis (as well as Oakland and San Diego), but the main purpose of the get-together was to review updated costs for the two Los Angeles stadium projects.

The day included updates by NFL staff and presentations by the Chargers, Raiders, and Rams. Local task force personnel — in the case of St. Louis, the group headed by Dave Peacock and Bob Blitz — were not involved.

Rams owner Stan Kroenke, who was in attendance Wednesday, is heading an effort to build a new stadium in the Inglewood area of Los Angeles, while counterparts Dean Spanos of the Chargers and Mark Davis of the Raiders have joined forces on a competing project in the Carson area of LA.

Members of the LA opportunities committee are owners Clark Hunt (Kansas City), Robert Kraft (New England), John Mara (New York Giants), Bob McNair (Houston), Jerry Richardson (Carolina), and Art Rooney (Pittsburgh).

The next league-wide owners meeting in which LA relocation and the home market stadium projects are expected to be discussed is Aug. 11.