This week in “Which NFL teams are moving to L.A. in 2015?” rumors, we have … nobody!
Roger Goodell told the Chargers, Raiders and Rams this week that there will not be a team that moves to LA for next season, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 20, 2014
Per “sources,” yes, but Schefter is reporting it as fact, and the NFL isn’t denying it, so this certainly has the whiff at least of official leak. And the San Diego Chargers did already announce that they’re staying put for 2015, which they likely wouldn’t have done if there were any chance of teams going to L.A., and besides there’s just about zero chance of an L.A. stadium deal getting done in time for a relocation announcement by February. So, really, I’m confident we can stick a fork in this for now, and stop with all the rumor-mongering about who’s headed to—
Fox Sports 1 Insider Jay Glazer reports the NFL is waiting to get better offers for stadium sites around Los Angeles, with St. Louis Rams clear front-runner to come to city.
Yo! Jay! Stand down, already!
In related news, the Oakland Raiders are apparently set to announce a one-year extension of their lease at the Oakland Coliseum, which is a bit weird, as I’m pretty sure that the Coliseum Authority would have to sign off on that as well — and would be perfectly within their rights to tell Mark Davis to take his team and go play in the street if he doesn’t agree to a multiyear extension. This one is worth watching closely, or would be if everyone could stop playing “Who’s moving to the imaginary L.A. stadium first?”
I don’t know what the construction schedules are like for “state of the art” stadiums these days, but its hard to see anyone moving to LA in even 2-3 years considering there is no financing, no land, and no clear vision of who, exactly, is going to be going there.
A team could theoretically play at the L.A. Coliseum or the Rose Bowl for a couple of years while waiting for a new stadium to be completed. It’s pretty inconceivable that a team would up and move to L.A. before funding of a new stadium was approved, though, for fear of losing any leverage with the city or a private stadium developer or whoever would be stuck with the cost of actually building the thing.
Theoretically play at the Coliseum or Rose Bowl eh? Heck, we’ve been theoretically moving a team there for 20 years now, so yeah, that sounds like a solid part of our solid plan to be in L.A. very, very soon, really soon, honest, and your town better pony up if you don’t want it to be your team doin’ the movin’, heh heh heh.
I love the smell of public stadium cash in the morning, baby!
There isn’t a stadium to accept a team in LA for many years. To move to LA an owner has to give up 50% ownership interest (to make a billion + stadium pencil out) and hope to make it up on higher revenue. It’s a mathematically impossible exercise. The truth is very simple: The Chargers are at the SD’s mercy. They have no real relocation options and they have to stay. The rest is pure theater. Even in 2020 when the current lease expires they have nowhere to go and will be forced to seek a compromise in order to punctuate the obvious: they have zero options but stay. You can never make 32 NFL owners to agree to give access to any NFL team to the 2nd most lucrative market on paper. They simply won’t agree to such. LA is a myth as far as NFL presence goes; just forget about it.
Thinker knows about our need to wet our beaks. He is a smart guy. Everyone else seems to miss that point.