Chances for the St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders, and San Diego Chargers to move to Los Angeles are “dim,” says report on Sunday.
The New York Times reported that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said last week that there was no resolution in sight for the site of a new stadium.
Los Angeles hasn’t had an NFL team since 1994.
“I’m not at the point where I would tell you that anything is imminent or that we have a solution identified at this point in time,” Goodell said Wednesday. “There is progress, but we’ve all heard that before.”
As the Times notes:
AEG, which has proposed building a stadium downtown near Staples Center, received a six-month extension in October to try to work out a deal with the city, which wants a new convention center on the site to replace the aging one there now.
The N.F.L. favors that site over others that have been suggested in Carson, Inglewood and the City of Industry. But in a game of cat and mouse, no one appears willing to build a stadium until a team has committed to moving.
Complicating matters, Los Angeles’s mayor, Eric Garcetti, has said he is unwilling to subsidize the construction of a stadium.
At various points, the Rams have been considered front-runners to move to Southern California, in part because the team’s owner, Stan Kroenke, bought a large plot of land in Inglewood where, in theory, he could build his own stadium.
Meanwhile, U-T San Diego reporter Jason Cole says the Chargers and Rams are in “a race” to move to LA.
“Chargers still really don’t want to move, but realize they may have to. Increasing chatter in SD makes it clear team can’t stay at Qualcomm,” he said. He added: “The #Raiders might be a tough sell there by themselves. Also, AEG EIR only calls for one team to be there, so there’s a holdup on that idea.”
