Rams can move to Los Angeles
Listen to this articleAs reported in various sources, including USA Today and ESPN, the powerful NFL committee on Los Angeles opportunities came down with its recommendations today. They favor the stadium plan in Carson, CA for a new stadium, the plan that involves the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers.
But all 32 owners got together and voted, agreeing to the plan in Inglewood, CA, which is the plan offered by Stan Groenke, owner of the St. Louis Rams. The San Diego Chargers have said they have zero interest in the Inglewood project, although the Chargers have been cleared to move. They have a deal with the Oakland Raiders for the site in Carson, but have until January 16, 2017 to agree with the Rams on lease terms, if they decide to make the move.
The NFL would like to have two teams in L.A., but are only interested in helping finance one stadium.
Amy Adams Strunk, the controlling owner of the Tennessee Titans, didn’t attend the meeting, but the Titans, the last team to make a move (from Houston to Nashville) were represented by Titans president and CEO Steve Underwood.
The vote to move was done by secret ballot so as of yet there is no information on how many teams favored the moves.
San Diego Chargers fans are hoping their team rejects the offer to join the Rams in Inglewood. That would still leave the city of San Diego with the job of offering a viable stadium option acceptable to the Chargers and the NFL.
Last week the NFL said none of the three cities with teams, St. Louis, San Diego and Oakland, had offered acceptable options. For the Chargers to stay in San Diego, the city would have to come up with a new stadium in Downtown San Diego, close to the convention center and the San Diego Padres’ Petco Park.
For the Raiders, it looks like they will be staying in Oakland.
San Diego Chargers owner Dean Spanos issued this statement on the team’s website:
“My goal from the start of this process was to create the options necessary to safeguard the future of the Chargers franchise while respecting the will of my fellow NFL owners. Today we achieved this goal with the compromise reached by NFL ownership. The Chargers have been approved to relocate to Los Angeles, at the Inglewood location, at any time in the next year. In addition, the NFL has granted an additional $100 million in assistance in the event there is a potential solution that can be placed before voters in San Diego. I will be working over the next several weeks to explore the options that we have now created for ourselves to determine the best path forward for the Chargers.”
Stay tuned Chargers fans.
Claudia Gestro contributed to this article, including the photos.
The video below is from their training camp with the Dallas Cowboys in August of last year.
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