Carson, Calif., officials yesterday "shrugged off Inglewood’s jubilation" over the approval of Rams Owner Stan Kroenke's planned NFL stadium at Hollywood Park, according to Mazza & Bonsignore of the L.A. DAILY NEWS. Carson Mayor Jim Dear said, "We are really not concerned with what is going on in Inglewood." He added of the Carson's planned Raiders-Chargers venue, "We believe our location is superior by far. ... What distinguishes Carson from all the other stadium options is the fact that this is not developer driven." Mazza & Bonsignore write while the "revelers in Inglewood celebrate," they would be "wise to understand it was merely one scene in a movie for which the final act has not yet been written" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 2/26). Meanwhile, Hollywood Park Land Co. Senior VP Chris Meany said that the Inglewood stadium is being designed with "opportunities in mind" such as hosting a Super Bowl and a Final Four. In L.A., Tim Logan notes the city currently "doesn't have a large enough indoor arena" for those types of events (L.A. TIMES, 2/26).
NOT SO INDUSTRIOUS? Diamond Bar, Calif., Mayor Steve Tye said that an NFL stadium in the City of Industry, proposed by Majestic Realty Chair & CEO Ed Roski in '09, "seems more and more unlikely as team owners jockey for properties in Carson and Inglewood." In California, Jason Henry notes Roski, who "wanted a share of the team if one came to the city, never found the support from owners that the newer projects have." Tye said of Roski's proposal, "There was a time when you couldn't go anywhere without hearing about it. Then all of a sudden, nothing." He said that he "isn't sure" if the Raiders, Rams and Chargers being "linked closely to Carson and Inglewood" leaves a team for Industry. But the NFL "has not written Roski’s proposal off" yet. NFL VP/Communications Brian McCarthy in an e-mail wrote, "It remains one of the sites we continue to monitor" (SAN GABRIEL VALLEY TRIBUNE, 2/26).
CHARGING STATION: In San Diego, Nick Canepa writes the the Chargers "announcing they’re now ridiculously in cahoots” with the Raiders caught San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer "with his mayoral britches down.” Faulconer said of his city's efforts to keep the Chargers in town, “I’m going to get this done. I wouldn’t be trying if I didn’t believe I could. I wouldn’t be wasting my time; I wouldn’t be wasting everybody’s time.” But Faulconer is “not saying how deep he feels the threat is” of a Raiders-Chargers partnership in Carson. Canepa writes the “biggest surprise was that Carson was being worked on for months and wasn’t leaked" (
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/26). After reports that a
potential downtown San Diego Stadium site could be delayed for up to seven years, a UNION-TRIBUNE editorial stated the public "would embrace" a Chargers stadium at the Mission Valley site, and that "would keep the Chargers in San Diego for decades to come” (
UTSANDIEGO.com, 2/25).
REAL MOMENTUM? CBS Sports Network’s Jim Rome said of Inglewood approving the stadium plan for Kroenke, “This is not the same annoying white noise about the NFL returning to L.A. that we’ve all tuned out for the last 20 years. This is real, and it looks like it really is going to happen." Rome: "L.A. is not the NFL wasteland; it is now the promised land -- and the second those shovels hit the dirt, Inglewood is the new Hollywood” (“Rome,” CBSSN, 2/25). ESPN’s John Clayton said the “realistic plan may have two or at least one” team in L.A. next year (“NFL Live,” ESPN, 2/25).
EXTRA INNINGS: In San Jose, Tim Kawakami writes for the A’s, the "singular serious option is to remain in Oakland and try to get a new stadium built on the Coliseum site” or somewhere else in the city. But MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred “implied that the Raiders-Carson situation could clarify a lot of things.” MLB and the A’s are “waiting on the Chargers-Raiders deal,” and waiting on Oakland city and county council officials to “re-engage with the Raiders one last time to rebuild on the Coliseum site” (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 2/26).
