New stadium for Rams, Chargers delayed till 2020 because it rained

And in today’s comedy news, the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers will be delayed a year in moving into their new stadium because it rained:

Historically heavy rainfall in Los Angeles has delayed the highly anticipated, $2.6 billion stadium in Inglewood, California, by a year.

The new facility, to be shared by the Rams and Chargers, will now open in 2020 instead of 2019, the teams said Thursday. In the meantime, the Rams will play at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for an additional year and the Chargers will have one more season at StubHub Center in Carson, California.

Color me marginally skeptical — stadium manager Dale Koger acknowledged that the original timetable was “very aggressive,” so this could just be a matter of realizing they weren’t going to be done on time and blaming it on the rain. But whatever; anything else hilarious about this? Like, how will this mess with any important plans that the teams will now have to put on hold?

Fourteen months ago, [Rams COO Kevin] Demoff told The Times, “Our focus has always been on introducing new uniforms the year we open a new stadium. That’s the opportune time to shape your brand.”…

But it might not happen until 2020.

“That’s a decision we’ll make in the coming months as we look at the uniforms,” Demoff said during a teleconference with a reporters. “But we will have the option of beginning a rebrand in 2019 or with the stadium in 2020.”

Man, there is nothing as funny as people unironically saying things like “shape your brand.” Still not quite as good as when a masked superhero does it, but I’ll just picture Demoff wearing a purple unitard, and it’s almost as good.

Other Recent Posts:

Share this post:

14 comments on “New stadium for Rams, Chargers delayed till 2020 because it rained

    1. To the delay story on the L.A. Times site, some commenter speculated about contractor leverage in advance of a 2024 L.A. Olympics. I’ve no idea whether that’s viable, but it is interesting.

  1. I’m not convinced you grasp the magnitude of the 5 year drought, followed by one of the rainiest years in California on record. Remember that little thing with the Oroville Dam? Well, Southern California got it too.

    Sure, the rain could just be an excuse, but it is a pretty darned convenient one.

    1. I agree, MikeM. I’m skeptical that it could cause a full year delay. I think that Kroenke pushed 2019 to get relocation approved, but knew that 2020 was the real date all along.

      1. Well, the Rams were all set to move after 2014, and NFL brass delayed their application by a year to give the Raiders and Chargers a chance to slap together a competing plan (leading to a lot of wasted time and money for everyone involved), so I doubt the NFL cared about 2019 vs 2020 for the new stadium. I think Kroenke aimed for 2019 for the same reason the Staples Center owners rushed that job: To start making the big luxury-box money as soon as possible.

  2. I vaguely remember that Walter O’Malleys Dodger Stadium construction was also affected by an extraordinary rainy season in Los Angeles…
    Also no mention that their delay might cause some issues with the scheduled Super Bowl there..
    The St Louis Post Dispatch is loving these turn of events..
    Rams stadium opening delayed a year; will Super Bowl be affected? http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-stadium-opening-delayed-a-year-will-super-bowl-be/article_febde020-ff21-544b-94e2-cfc3fe289d16.html

  3. It now appears that Inglewood and Las Vegas will open the same season.

    As for the Super Bowl, league rules state a stadium cannot host a Super Bowl in its inaugural year. This can be changed with a waiver. Wouldn’t be surprised if the NFL moves the LA game to 2022 and awards 2021 to either New Orleans or Tampa.

    Would Las Vegas be in consideration for the 2023 game? It’s one thing to put a team there, but a Super Bowl is something entirely different.

    1. You are correct, It’s been announced by the NFL the 2021 Super Bowl is moved to Tampa Bay, while LA now gets the 2022 Super Bowl due to the delay.

      http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000810644/article/super-bowl-lv-relocated-to-tampa-la-will-host-sb-lvi

      Will Las Vegas’s stadium even be done by 2023?

  4. I would be very surprised if the NFL doesn’t grant a waiver. The whole reason for the rule in the first place is likely to provide a buffer if the stadium doesn’t open on time.

    1. The lawyers suing the Rams and the NFL will surely be paying attention.

  5. I cannot put into words how disappointed I am that the Rams new uniforms might be delayed by a year.

  6. Aw that song from a long time ago a video of rain in Southern California
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78Fa7QoqX9c It was tweeted too

Comments are closed.