NFL officials and several prominent team owners on Friday said that they are "hopeful the Chargers can still secure a new stadium in San Diego, although their voices were not brimming with confidence," according to Scott Reid of the ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. They also said that they would "at least be open to considering" Raiders Owner Mark Davis’ potential scenarios in Las Vegas or the San Antonio-Austin corridor "if talks became serious and the Raiders run out of options in the East Bay." NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during his State of the Game address said, "We want to work to try to keep our teams where they are. ... My issue is, and my pledge to [Chargers Chair] Dean Spanos, to Mark Davis, to the mayor of Oakland and mayor of San Diego is to do everything possible we can to support them, to try to get the right kind of facilities long-term in both of those markets.” Reid noted Spanos "could decide as early as next week whether to pursue a new stadium in Mission Valley near Qualcomm Stadium ... or a combined stadium-convention center complex on the city’s downtown waterfront." While the potential revenue streams in San Diego "are not as high as they are in Inglewood," where they would share a stadium with the Rams, the Chargers "would not have to pay an annual relocation of $65 million for 10 years" by staying in their current market. Giants President & CEO John Mara said he was hopeful Spanos "can get something done because it’s a great community, it’s a great market for us." Mara: "He needs a new stadium. ... Now they have a timetable. All of us want to see the Chargers stay in San Diego if possible.” Meanwhile, Reid noted there is "little if any optimism that Davis can get something done in the East Bay." That NFL Exec VP/Business Ventures Eric Grubman did not meet with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf last week "is another indication that there is nothing on the horizon for the Raiders" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 2/6).
SWEET EMOTION: In San Diego, Kevin Acee noted while Spanos and San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer are "expected to begin formal stadium discussions soon, no face-to-face meeting has been set" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/6). Also in San Diego, Dan McSwain wrote "emotion may be driving" Spanos and his family partners, "more than a dry-eyed assessment of risk versus return." So too, "emotion may determine" where things go from here. Chargers Special Counsel Mark Fabiani is reportedly "mobilizing a cadre of lawyers, investment bankers and political campaigners to sell a ballot initiative to voters in November." Mounting a strong campaign "could easily cost" Spanos $10M. When big projects "use the ballot box to speed environmental approvals, they must originate as 'citizens initiatives.'” If the Chargers want to build a new stadium in San Diego, they "are obliged to put together a detailed project ready for full entitlement, ostensibly at arms length from city government." Fabiani reportedly "reckons the team must deliver final initiative language to the registrar by the end of March to assure sufficient time to gather 66,447 valid signatures and clear various hurdles by an August deadline for inclusion in the fall election." The team’s "need for speed will confront San Diego’s political establishment with some tough decisions" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/7).
ST. LOUIS STILL A POSSIBILITY: Goodell on Friday said that the league "wasn’t closing the door on another franchise in St. Louis." He said, “We have a tremendous number of fans there. ... It’s a great community and if there’s something that can be worked out and we can develop a stadium that can allow a team to be successful there, that’s something we should consider" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 2/6).
