The NFL has reportedly reached agreement with Hollywood Park
CEO R.D. Hubbard to build a new 68,000 stadium next to the
Inglewood racetrack in suburban Los Angeles, according to this
morning's BOSTON GLOBE. The GLOBE reports that a "special NFL
Committee" that includes 49ers President Carmen Policy, Broncos
Owner Pat Bowlen and Carolina Owner Jerry Richardson negotiated
with Hubbard. In addition, former raiders coach John Madden
reportedly said on his radio show that the team would return to
Oakland (Will McDonough, BOSTON GLOBE, 6/9). Raiders owner Al
Davis has yet to agree to the Hollywood deal, which leaves
"serious questions," according to Glenn Dickey in this morning's
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. Dickey reports that Davis isn't eager
to share the stadium and a "sizable minority of owners has
always preferred to let Davis go back to Oakland so they could
put in Los Angeles two other teams with more pliable owners"
(S.F. CHRONICLE, 6/9). As NFL's July 1 deadline for a final
agreement between the Raiders and Hollywood Park looms, "Davis
appears to be moving according to his own timetable," writes
Steve Springer in this morning's L.A. TIMES. Springer reports
that while "Oakland awaits with open arms. ... The tone is
markedly different at the L.A. Coliseum, where the Raiders are
expected to play for the next two years if they stay."
Construction Supervisor Don Webb: "Everyone is weary of this"
(L.A. TIMES, 6/9).
QUESTIONS: Dickey reports that Davis "has had his own
questions about returning to Oakland, which is why he has
basically let others frame his decision." Dickey notes that
former Oakland season ticket holders "primarily were blue-collar
workers," and that "the NFL has changed enormously since then."
Dickey: "To finance the proposed deal to Oakland, it would be
necessary to eventually fill as many as 175 luxury suites."
Because Oakland does not have the corporate base of S.F. or L.A.,
many suites would have to be sold to affluent suburban residents.
Dickey writes, "These people would buy the suites as long as a
Raider game was a status event, but if the Raiders went 7-9,
there wouldn't be much status involved" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 6/9).
CRYING IN THEIR O.J.: Leaders of Orange County's bid to
land an NFL team "decided on a new strategy Thursday," according
to this morning's ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. The group plans to
lobby the NFL to make Anaheim the site in Southern CA for two NFL
teams to play in a new stadium. Himmelberg reports that the
group "has written letters to NFL owners that attack the safety
and access problems of Inglewood and promote Orange County as a
more appealing fan and tourist destination." A proposed Orange
Co. stadium would be funded largely through PSLs and some public
funds (Michele Himmelberg, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 6/9).
