NFL owners tomorrow will get together outside Chicago for a special one-day meeting where they will "get detailed updates on the Inglewood stadium proposal" of Rams Owner Stan Kroenke and the "competing bid for a Carson stadium jointly backed" by the Chargers and Raiders, according to Sam Farmer of the L.A. TIMES. Unlike most league meetings, this one will be "limited to one representative per club." Officials from the city of San Diego today are "expected to update the NFL's Committee on Los Angeles Opportunities on a potential new stadium in that city." NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last week in a memo to teams wrote "no votes will be taken" during the meeting. Farmer notes there will most likely be "no major developments or decisions coming out of this meeting, and owners almost certainly will emerge saying it's good that the league has two viable stadium options" in L.A. The "mere fact the league is bringing them together at this, a busy time of preparation, underscores the growing urgency surrounding a potential return to the nation's second-largest market." Owners will "hear updates from league staff on the home markets of, in order, Oakland, St. Louis and San Diego." There will be "reports on a potential relocation fee if a team or teams were to move, as well as a general membership discussion during which the L.A.-interested teams will be excused from the room" (L.A. TIMES, 8/10).
TAKING SHAPE: In California, Scott Reid noted it is the St. Louis and San Diego presentations that will "give NFL owners and officials the first clear indication of where the relocation process might be headed." Whether the St. Louis and/or San Diego projects are "deemed viable by the owners and NFL senior staff could have a domino effect on the plans of Rams, Chargers and Raiders." Sources said that the presentations will also "further highlight the contrast in approaches and results for the St. Louis and San Diego efforts to keep the Rams and Chargers in their current markets" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 8/9). In N.Y., Ken Belson notes tomorrow's meetings "are a milestone" for the league, as "ingredients are falling into place." Kroenke "has plans to build a stadium in Inglewood as part of a new entertainment district, while the Chargers and the Raiders want to build a stadium in Carson." In both cases, developers and financing "have been lined up, city approvals have been received and messy negotiations over public funding have been avoided" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/10). Fox Sports’ Ronde Barber said of Kroenke, “This guy has some power. He's laying his chips out in a row to get this L.A. franchise. He's got the land -- the same land that the NFL wanted in fact -- for that L.A. franchise. The fight really is going to be more about lobbying than it is about who has the power. We'll find out if he has that kind of influence to get this team in L.A. ("America's Pregame," FS1, 8/7).
LEADING THE CHARGE: In San Diego, Jonathan Horn cited a poll of the five-county L.A. metro area as showing that there is "as much enthusiasm" for the Chargers as for the Rams, who played in the L.A. area for 48 seasons. The Raiders, who played a dozen years in L.A., "came in third." The poll, sponsored by the San Diego Union-Tribune/KGTV-ABC and KABC-TV in L.A., showed that 23% of the fans "would prefer to go to a game in Carson," versus 17% "who would prefer Inglewood." Meanwhile, 28% said they would "go to either city," while 27% said neither, and 5% "were unsure." SurveyUSA Founder & CEO Jay Leve said that the 800 respondents "were divvied up proportionally between the counties that make up the L.A. market" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 8/8).
