While discussion of the Rams move continued at the NFL
owners meetings in Phoenix, Raiders Owner Al Davis asked the
league to approve the idea of a new football stadium. Davis said
he needs approval for the new stadium, to be located between
Hollywood Park and The Forum in Inglewood, within ten days or it
cannot be built. "Owners winced," writes Bill Plaschke and T.J.
Simers of the L.A. TIMES, "but, with the prospects of losing a
Los Angeles team increasing every hour, they seemed eager to
embrace the report." The proposed $200M facility would be
privately financed by NC-based NationsBank. But Raiders and
Hollywood Park officials claim that "it is not possible to pay
for the stadium" without revenue from at least two Super Bowls,
which would have to be played there during a five-year period
after '97. Oilers Owner/Finance Committee Chair Bud Adams:
"We'd love to help him out ... we just need to see a little more"
(L.A. TIMES, 3/15). Davis has spoken with Orioles Owner Peter
Angelos in recent days about his attempt to get an NFL team in
Baltimore (I.J. Rosenberg, ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 3/15). Although
Davis gave "the impression" he would play at Anaheim Stadium
until the propsoed new stadium opens in '97 (should the Rams move
get approval), he did not commit to any stadium for '95 -- a
"factor that has NFL owners worried." Davis: "I think I could
play in any facility I wanted to next year. ... That doesn't mean
just Los Angeles" (Michele Himmelberg, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER,
3/15).
