Chargers Special Counsel Mark Fabiani, who is leading the team's efforts to secure a new stadium, said that it is "too early to speculate" which NFL team is the frontrunner to move to L.A., according to Randy Youngman of the ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. Fabiani said of AEG's proposed Farmers Field, "There are so many unknowns. Is the NFL going to demand a $500 million relocation fee? Will EIR (Environmental Impact Report) lawsuits or a potential citizen-sponsored, anti-stadium referendum fatally delay a project? What are the economics of financing this kind of deal privately in such perilous economic times? Assuming that AEG wants to buy a majority stake in a team, as recent press reports have indicated, is there an existing NFL owner interested both in selling his team to AEG at a price AEG is willing to pay and then watching as his former team is moved out of town?" He added, "As we all know, Ed Roski has had a shovel-ready stadium project (in the City of Industry) since 2008 and has been unable so far to move forward -- proving, I think, that these projects are much, much harder to pull off than most observers understand" (ORANGE COUNTRY REGISTER, 8/13).
WAITING HIS TURN: In L.A., Bill Dwyre wrote Roski is a "man in waiting." Roski said, "If the downtown site wins, the first thing is that I will be happy the city got a team. It's one of those things where I don't care if it is in my backyard or your backyard -- let's just get a team back." Still, Roski "thinks his stadium concept ... is the best one." He said that "wide-open spaces provide outside parking that creates what he calls 'the fan experience.'" Roski said that that, "more than anything else, drives the NFL" (L.A. TIMES, 8/13).
