NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last week said that while the league "continued to look for a site for a new stadium" in L.A. to host a team, "no resolution was in sight," according to Ken Belson of the N.Y TIMES. Goodell: "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." Belson writes in a "game of cat and mouse, no one appears willing to build a stadium until a team has committed to moving," and the NFL's chances in L.A. next season "may be dimming" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/15). CBSSPORTS.com's Jason La Canfora cited sources as saying that the league "addressed the situation briefly during last week's owner's meeting in Dallas." The sources said that NFL Exec VP/Business Ventures Eric Grubman "spoke during the meeting and acknowledged that there were multiple teams with the intent of moving to Los Angeles as soon as next season, and explained that there remained multiple options for when and where those teams might relocate within the L.A. region." Grubman "stressed what has already become painfully clear to officials of the teams seeking to move to L.A., which is that the NFL will continue to dictate this process and it will be the league's decision which team or teams, and on which timeline, they move." Sources said that Rams officials "remain frustrated with the pace of the process" (CBSSPORTS.com, 12/14). NFL.com's Albert Breer tweeted, "One interesting thing I learned ... League hasn't just looked at Rose Bowl and Coliseum as temp sites. It's also looked at Dodger Stadium" (TWITTER.com, 12/13).
CHARGING STATION? In San Diego, Kevin Acee wrote it is "by no means overstating things to point out that never before in the 13-year process" in which Chargers Chair & President Dean Spanos has "engaged [in] efforts to get a new stadium in San Diego has there been anything close to this level of concern and urgency." L.A. "is in play" for the Chargers. Couple that "looming inevitability with a San Diego political and business landscape that remains rife with dissent and bogged down by indecision, and it is believable when those close to Spanos say that given the right (or wrong) series of events, he could decide to file relocation papers with the NFL in the next two months." Even if a move to L.A. by any team in '15 "is being painted as unlikely to happen by virtually everyone in and around the situation, the signs do overwhelmingly point to there being some sort of monumental shift" in '15. Multiple sources have "made it clear that much of Spanos’ recent focus has been on preventing and/or beating" the Rams and Raiders to L.A. There "really is nowhere else" besides L.A. "for a team to move." Acee: "Certainly not for the Spanos family." They are "not going to London," and "very few familiar with San Antonio believe that is a viable option" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 12/13).
