The NFL and Los Angeles Dance Continues

Photo courtesy of LA.Streetsblog.org.

There's been rumors and talk of an NFL team returning to Los Angeles ever since the Raiders and Rams left after the 1994 season. Proposals for stadiums in Anaheim, Carson, and a modified LA Coliseum have fallen by the wayside over the years and the latest plan is to build a stadium in Industry.

Where's Industry, you ask? It's in the San Gabriel Valley, due north of Anaheim and due east of downtown Los Angeles off the 60 and 57 freeways. The cost of the development is pegged at $800 million and includes training facilities, a sports hospital, and an entertainment and theater complex. The cost is significantly lower than most football stadiums built today, partially because it's being built into a hillside. By comparison, new free-standing stadiums in Dallas and New York cost $1.3 billion and $1.4 billion, respectively.

A good location plus a reasonable budget to finally bring a football team back to Los Angeles, what's not to like? First, the neighboring city of Walnut has been a vocal opposition to the project, citing traffic concerns. Traffic is a way of life in Southern California (just ask anyone who's ever had the misfortune of commuting on the local freeways), and there are tons of residential pockets throughout the region. When former Los Angeles mayor James Hahn announced plans to redesign LAX Airport in 2004, the most vocal opponents were residents of the Westchester and El Segundo neighborhoods north and south of LAX. As a result, LAX remains the same traffic-clogged mess of an airport it's been for years and it affects a whole region. In short, there's always a group of residents opposing a development in the LA metro area, which leads to a mentality of wanting the benefits without the cost. Sports fans in LA love football and want an NFL team to come to town, but they're not willing to have the stadium be in their backyard, just someone else's. Second, environmental groups are crying foul over exemptions in environmental review law that were made for the stadium. Very rarely does a development in Southern California not come under an environmental review, so for a sports stadium to bypass them does raise questions.

But the biggest hurdle facing the return of NFL football to Los Angeles is finding a team willing to relocate. There are 7 teams the stadium developer has identified as being as possible stadium tenants: Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, and the St. Louis Rams.

The Bills are a franchise with history (mostly dubious) and currently stuck in an old stadium in Buffalo. While the Bills have been rumored to move for years, I think Toronto is a more likely destination for the Bills rather than sunny SoCal. Besides, the Los Angeles Bills could have some unflattering jokes associated with it.

The Jaguars have a hard time selling tickets to their games, have no stadium corporate sponsor, and seem on the brink of moving. The team has been a mediocre performer, at best, in its history. Most NFL insiders hve this team being one of the finalists to move west. I could get use to hearing "LA Jaguars."

The Vikings won't leave Minny. Way too much history and a passionate fan base to let the Vikes go.

The Raiders have lots of fans here in the LA area, but I doubt Al Davis will move his team again after only 15 years in Oakland. Besides, do we really want to see the Black Hole crazies every Sunday during football season go nuts over a team that has been a cellar-dweller for nearly ten years? If the Raiders move in, expect the surrounding communities to be even more up-in-arms.

The Chargers also have lots of fans here in LA. Many Orange County and Inland Empire residents travel down to San Diego for games and their games air locally on both TV and radio. In a sense, the Chargers have adopted LA as their second home (they trained in Carson awhile back and the team advertises for season tickets on local TV). Negotiations over a new stadium between San Diego city officials and the Chargers have been going on for years. If the Jaguars don't move, I suspect the stadium developers to be making many trips down south to SD.

The 49ers won't leave San Fran, despite the fact that they play in a nearly 50-year old stadium. Same scenario as Minnesota (rich history, loyal fan base).

The Rams won't leave St. Louis. The businessman in talks to become majority owner has publicly said he wants to keep the team in St. Louis.