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Goodell Says Southern California Would Need
"Terrific Stadium" For Team To Return To L.A. |
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell yesterday said in order for a team to return to the L.A. area there needs to be a "terrific stadium, a state-of-the-art facility which the fans here in Southern California deserve." Goodell said of a report that a possible downtown stadium in L.A. is being considered to house an NFL team along with other local sites, "We are not aligned in the sense of we're exclusive to any alternative. ... There are some very positive developments. One stadium's been approved from an environmental standpoint. Another stadium is being developed in the downtown area. These are great solutions for us and hopefully will lead to a better solution overall for our fans in Southern California." But he noted the league's "effort right now is making sure we get this collective bargaining issue resolved." Goodell: "Hopefully, this type of investment where you have to invest hundreds of millions of dollars, possibly billions of dollars, into a new stadium, we can make those kind of investments, which will be good for the game." NFL Network's Rich Eisen asked, "So the stadium's the cart and the CBA is the horse?" Goodell: "It's one thing to have approval to get a bill, but you've got to be able to finance it. We're opening a stadium in New York this year which is about $1.7B, all privately financed. That's a tremendous investment that the owners have to make to continue to grow the game" ("NFL Total Access," NFL Network, 4/28). Goodell also discussed future developments with the NFL Draft and the upcoming concussion summit in DC. He did not talk about the Jeff Ireland/Dez Bryant situation (THE DAILY).
