NFL team owners voted to approve the St. Louis Rams’ bid to relocate to Los Angeles, giving the city an NFL team for the first time since ’94. The team will play in a new stadium being built in Inglewood, set to becoming the NFL’s largest venue. The cost to construct the new Inglewood stadium, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, could approach $2 billion.
The Chargers will have the option to share the new venue, but owner Dean Spanos, is still undecided. Spanos has until the end of the year to say if the team will be joining the Rams in LA. If Charges pass on the relocation to LA, the Raiders will then be give the chance to make the move themselves.
The vote could have gone another way, earlier in the day, the league’s relocation committee had recommended Carson be chosen for the new stadium, and recommended moving the Chargers and Raiders, not the Rams.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league will give $100 million to both the Chargers and Raiders for improvements on their home stadiums, which sounds like a lot by most standards, but really doesn’t get you much in the way of a stadium remodel. This is probably why, Raiders owner Mark Davis was not happy with the NFL’s decision, stating, “Well, this is not a win for the Raiders.”
It is important to note the NFL’s 21 year absences from Los Angeles and their desire to have two teams move back all at once. The NFL had for years used the threat of an LA move from, you name the city, to Los Angeles. This is how it goes: I own a football team and want a new and bigger stadium or want tax breaks, so I tell the city and state to give them to me. Said city and state say, well we can not do that, it’s not in the budget and you should have to play by the same rules as other businesses. Okay, I will take my team, and all the revenue I create for you, and move to LOS ANGELES. Once that bluff gets called and one team goes, then LA is really off the negotiating table. Better to open up two smaller cities, instead of just one, to leverage next time negotiations come up on taxes, regulations or stadium upgrades. The NFL didn’t want a team in LA because it was always an amazing threat.
This is a historic move and good for Los Angeles, but the NFL might be wielding more power than it should have.