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Carson City Council Approves Privately Financed Stadium For Chargers, Raiders

The Carson City Council yesterday "unanimously approved a privately financed stadium" for the Chargers and Raiders with a 3-0 vote, "barely two months after the public announcement" of the $1.7B project, according to Logan & Fenno of the L.A. TIMES. This comes after the Inglewood City Council in February "adopted a ballot initiative" for a $1.86B stadium as "part of a sprawling mixed-use development" backed by billionaire Rams Owner Stan Kroenke and Stockbridge Capital. Now both would-be L.A.-area NFL stadiums "have local approval." Reps of the projects "will update a committee of NFL owners on their progress" during a meeting in N.Y. today. Supporters of the Carson project "needed just eight days in March to collect more than 15,000 signatures in support of their ballot initiative." The Carson City Council "had the option of adopting the initiative or scheduling a public vote in July or August." The prospect of transforming the long-vacant former municipal landfill site next to the 405 Freeway into a 70,000-seat stadium "proved too tempting to delay." The ballot initiative process, followed by a council vote, "allowed both proposals to skip lengthy environmental reviews." Team officials, union leaders and fans in Chargers and Raiders jerseys "all urged the council to approve the stadium," and there "was no significant opposition." But "behind the jubilation, public details about the project remained in short supply." Carson officials "acknowledge that much of the deal with the developers will be negotiated in the coming months" (L.A. TIMES, 4/22).

BALANCING THE CHECKBOOK: In San Diego, Dan McSwain notes the Chargers and Raiders have "asked directly for no city tax money" from Carson, and offered $37M "for street improvements." Yet Carson "must find 16,000 off-site parking spaces." And it "may lose" $1.4M a year in federal housing dollars "if it doesn’t find another home for 1,500 units that wouldn’t be built on the stadium site" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 4/22). In L.A., Vincent Bonsignore notes any team relocation "is governed" by the NFL’s L.A. guidelines, a "key component of which is proving they have run out of options in their current cities." Although the NFL views L.A. as a "two-team city, the league has said it intends to help finance just one local stadium" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 4/22).

NO PLACE LIKE HOME? In California, Scott Reid notes the Carson City Council’s unanimous vote "put additional pressure on already-embattled officials from San Diego and Oakland to come up with plans in the coming weeks to keep the Chargers and Raiders in their current home markets." Carson officials will now "begin negotiations with the Chargers and Raiders on the control, construction and financing of the stadium and related projects." Both teams will also "continue to pursue stadium options in their current markets." Chargers special advisor Jeffrey Pollack said, “While we will continue to work with our home cities we are excited about Carson as a shared solution. We see Carson as a real opportunity to build a state-of-the-art stadium that will thrill fans and players alike" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 4/22). Meanwhile, in San Diego, Kevin Acee writes it is possible there could be "legal or political opposition" after the Carson City Council's approval. However, the NFL "has been assured by Carson officials that no significant objectors have surfaced yet." The fact that there are people intimately involved in the San Diego stadium push that "still suspect Carson is a leverage play speaks to the distrust that permeates and pollutes the efforts" in San Diego. It also "might indicate an acute case of denial" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 4/22).

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