May 26, 2004

NFL to L.A. in '08?

Major trial-balloon-floating from NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who says the league hopes to pick a Los Angeles stadium site by next May, with a team to begin play in 2008. As for what team, the Washington Post cites "executives around the league" as saying that an expansion team is less likely that relocation of an existing franchise such as the San Diego Chargers, Indianapolis Colts or New Orleans Saints, all of which are currently mired in local stadium battles. (And as for who would pay for the L.A. stadium, neither Tagliabue nor the Post said a word.)

The timing of the May 2005 deadline seems targeted at the TV networks: the NFL's TV contracts expire after the 2005 season, and swapping a small market like New Orleans for the nation's second-largest media market could help boost the sale price of the league's broadcast rights. Whether a league commitment to L.A. without an L.A. commitment to stadium cash - as seems likely, given the city council's past distaste for funding a football stadium - will be enough to pry Rupert Murdoch's claws off a few million more Foxbucks is uncertain, and could make for some interesting internal NFL debates about using league money instead.