NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and other top-level execs yesterday at the owners meetings in N.Y. addressed at length the possibility of "moving a team or teams" to L.A. -- "something the league clearly wants to do," according to Dan Graziano of ESPN.com. Candidates for such a move include the Rams, Raiders and Chargers, but the discussion "was more about logistics and potential stadium sites." Giants President & CEO John Mara: "We're certainly moving in that direction. As to who's going to go, that's still up in the air" (ESPN.com, 10/8). Goodell when asked if L.A. is any closer to landing a franchise than a decade ago said, "There are reasons for optimism, but that can change quickly also" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 10/9). Giants Chair & Exec VP Steve Tisch, when asked if the NFL’s effort to get to L.A. has moved forward, said, "Not in my opinion. It hasn’t gone backwards, but it really hasn’t gone forward. There’s certainly no breaking news" (SI.com, 10/8).
EXAMINING THE OPTIONS: In L.A., Vincent Bonsignore writes in the Rams, Raiders and Chargers, there are three teams in "desperate and seemingly futile fights for new stadiums, but only one, perhaps two, [have] financially enticing landing spots available" in L.A. As far as where in L.A. a stadium could go, that "remains in question." Unless you "believe all three teams will hammer out new stadium deals in their current cities -- it’s possible but not probable -- each will have to take a hard look at moving" to L.A. The danger "is waiting too long to decide, only to get shut out of L.A. because another team made the move first" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 10/9). ESPN's Michael Wilbon said L.A. will happen because the NFL "wants it to happen." Wilbon: "There is financing for a new stadium now, because the league is looking for additional revenues that are more likely to come from L.A. than Europe and because the Rams and Raiders can just walk out of their existing deals." ESPN's Tony Kornheiser said it "doesn't seem to me that they need a team in L.A." ("PTI," ESPN, 10/8). CBS Sports Network’s Jim Rome said of reports Dodgers Stadium could be a temporary location for an NFL team, “I don't care which team it is. We are not having a football team play on a baseball field. No chance, not in this town." He added, "We are about having nice things. ... The last thing you want to do is jack up a beautiful ballpark with a horrible looking football team” (“Rome,” CBSSN, 10/8).
LONDON CALLING: The GUARDIAN's Owen Gibson reports the FA is "considering" taking English national team soccer games "on the road again" after '18. The idea "is part of a wider review of how best to use" Wembley Stadium, which "includes the targeting of an NFL franchise to help fill seats and coffers." Given the popularity of regular-season NFL games at Wembley, the FA "has made securing a franchise a priority" if a London franchise is established (GUARDIAN, 10/9). In London, Martyn Ziegler notes the FA "has made winning an American football franchise to be based at Wembley a priority and it is understood that would open the way to holding a few England games away from the national stadium" (London INDEPENDENT, 10/9).
