NFL owners left league HQ in N.Y. yesterday "expressing optimism they can make a decision next week in Houston" on whether the Rams or Raiders and Chargers "will be approved for relocation" to L.A. and what site they will call home, according to Vincent Bonsignore of the L.A. DAILY NEWS. Patriots Owner Robert Kraft said, "We all want to see this issue settled by next week." Colts Owner Jim Irsay: "The feeling is that it’s time to get to a conclusion here." Bonsignore notes after a "long, full day of meetings," the 17 owners making up the Committee on L.A. Opportunities and the stadium and finance committees "created a path they hope will finally push the process over the goal line, part of which requires the Chargers, Raiders and Rams adhering to a series of stipulations." Among them, agreeing to a $550M relocation fee, per team, and "providing a lock-solid date for the opening of their new stadiums." Sources said that it "would be a surprise if any of the three teams were denied relocation eligibility." If, as expected, the Raiders, Rams and Chargers are each deemed eligible, it "will set the stage for a historic relocation vote among the three teams and the two sites next week in Houston." The three primary committees guiding the process "gathered to set some ground rules, hear again from the three teams, and discuss the voting format they will use." Kraft: "It was a great meeting and we have lots of good alternatives. We’re carefully analyzing and trying to figure out what’s right." The Rams made their presentation first, "followed by the Raiders and Chargers." Carmen Policy, the lead consultant on the Carson project, "presented on behalf of the Chargers and Raiders." Sources said that Disney Chair & CEO Bob Iger, who "will head the Carson stadium project if it gets approved, will present to the full ownership group in Houston" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 1/7).
ARE WE THERE YET? In California, Scott Reid reports the meetings lasted "more than eight hours." A source "went so far as to say the league and its owners are 'hell-bent' on resolving" the L.A. situation (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 1/7). Giants President & CEO John Mara: "Everyone's hope is we will have a vote in Houston next week and end this thing." In San Diego, Kevin Acee in a front-page piece reports multiple owners yesterday intimated that this "was a vote on franchises as much as a choice between sites." One owner present yesterday said that the L.A. committee "will make its preference known in Houston." How much that will sway a number of undecided owners "is not known" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 1/7).
POSSIBLE OUTCOMES: In L.A., Fenno & Farmer write Chargers Chair Dean Spanos "is popular among fellow owners, and it's increasingly unlikely that his franchise will be anywhere but L.A. in 2016 -- no matter which site wins." By all indications, there is a "great deal of support among owners for Spanos," and the Raiders "are riding shotgun." As it stands, the Raiders "have very little support to move to L.A. absent their link to the Chargers." If the Rams "are denied L.A., they could be allowed to move to another market such as London, Toronto or even San Diego" (L.A. TIMES, 1/7).
