City Of Los Angeles - Pro Football Rumors

Q&A With Rams Owner Stan Kroenke

January 13th, 2016 at 6:06pm CST by Zachary Links

Finally, football is headed back to the city of Los Angeles. Rams owner Stan Kroenke, who is historically very camera shy, appeared in front of reporters on Tuesday night after NFL owners voted 30-2 in favor of his Inglewood, California project. After that, he chatted with Sam Farmer and Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times about his team’s impending move. Here’s a look at some of the highlights:

On his rationale for revamping the defunct Hollywood Park racetrack:

If we didn’t have the perspective of 40 years of doing this, I don’t think any reasonable, rational person would ever do this. But, because we look at it a certain way, we’ve been through so many of these projects, and we’re long-term investors. That’s why we did what we did and stuck our neck out that far.

On the importance of computer approximations of the new stadium in his proposal:

One of the most important things that nailed it (Tuesday) is that we just kept showing them pictures. People love pictures. And what those pictures showed was the thought and the development and the plan, and the depth of the thought.

On the attendance of Seahawks owner and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen at the meetings in Houston and his support (Prior to Tuesday, Allen had not been in attendance for an NFL meeting in four years):

When I started working on this two years ago, I took Paul through the whole thing. I said, ‘This is what I think we can do here. I’m not sure we can do it all, but here’s what we’re working on.’ He was always interested. Then once we got to certain point, he definitely got it. He got how good it was.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Chargers On Verge Of L.A. Move?

January 13th, 2016 at 5:15pm CST by Zachary Links

Even though they technically have one year to hash things out, the Chargers already appear poised to move to Los Angeles. The NFL has been presented with the framework of a stadium deal that would join the Rams and Chargers in Inglewood, Alex Flanagan of NFL Network tweets. The Chargers are vetting it now and, barring anything unforeseen, the Bolts will in fact go to L.A. Vincent Bonsignore of the Daily News (on Twitter) hears that the Chargers received this framework on Tuesday night, after the league’s vote.

On Tuesday night, the league voted to green light the Rams’ proposed move to a brand new site in Inglewood, California. The vote came with an interesting stipulation, however, The Chargers were granted until January 16, 2017 to join up with the Rams and make the move to Los Angeles. If they did not sign off on the move, then the league would have moved on to another team to be determined with the Raiders thought to have priority.

The decision stripped the Chargers of some leverage, but they did get some bargaining chips out of it. First, they were allotted $100MM to build a brand new stadium in San Diego, if they decided against L.A. Secondly, the Rams were barred from collecting on personal seat licenses or selling naming rights to their new stadium until until February 15, 2017, unless they bring a second team aboard before then. That gave the Rams extra incentive to get something done with the Chargers, and that appears to have happened tonight.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Which Teams Voted No On Rams’ Proposal?

January 13th, 2016 at 4:38pm CST by Zachary Links

On Tuesday night, 30 of the league’s owners voted in favor of the Rams‘ new project in Inglewood, California. Two owners, however, voted against the project. One might automatically think that the Chargers and Raiders were responsible for the two “no” votes, but other owners seem to think otherwise. Here’s more on that:

There was a great deal of speculation that Bengals owner Mike Brown was one of two owners to vote nay on sending the Rams to Los Angeles. On Wednesday, Brown released a statement through his team’s website to refute those claims. “Stan Kroenke has put together an exceptional plan. The league to a man is excited about this prospect,” Brown said. “It’s a huge market..It’s a market that has changed dramatically since the NFL was last there. There’s no reason the NFL shouldn’t be successful there. Especially if we go about it the right way. The Stan Kroenke Plan for Inglewood is as well thought out and as aggressive in every way as the NFL could possibly wish.”
Despite his claims, Mike Florio of PFT hears that other owners still believe that he cast a vote against the Rams move to L.A. During deliberations, Brown expressed caution about the project and explained that major revenues from the new stadium could jack up the league’s salary cap numbers. Brown is also generally against dramatic change, the source claimed.
On Tuesday night, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter) asked Chargers owner Dean Spanos whether he voted against the Inglewood project. “I voted for myself. If that’s what you’re asking me, yeah,” Spanos said. There’s still some ambiguity in Spanos’ answer, but it seems that the Chargers cast one of the “no” votes for the Inglewood project. If the denial from Bengals owner Mike Brown is accurate, then it would appear that the Raiders and Mark Davis cast the other vote against the Rams’ new stadium.

Latest On Chargers, San Diego

January 13th, 2016 at 4:27pm CST by Zachary Links

The latest on the Bolts and the city of San Diego:

San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer says Tuesday night’s ruling from the NFL is an opportunity for a fresh start in the stadium talks with the Chargers, as Bernie Wilson of the AP tweets. The NFL has given the Chargers a one-year window to sign on with the Rams for an L.A. move. If they do not pull the trigger on a move, they will remain in San Diego with a $100MM grant from the league to help build a new stadium.
Faulconer says the Mission Valley proposal is still on the table but he will listen if the Chargers want to start over with another location (link).
Faulconer and County Supervisor Ron Roberts say they won’t budge off of their offer for $350MM in public money towards a stadium, however (link).
The Chargers believe that the framework presented to them to join the Rams in Los Angeles has workable components and would allow them to move in 2016, a source tells Jim Trotter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The Chargers, their attorneys, and their financial people are reviewing the framework, but overall they feel there could be a deal to be made for 2016 (link). On Tuesday night, Giants co-owner Steve Tisch said it’s “unlikely” that the Chargers will play in L.A. in 2016.
If the Chargers are going to move this year, they need to decide before start of the league year on March 9th, Trotter tweets. Otherwise, the uncertainty over where the Chargers might play in 2016 could affect free agency.

NFL Owners Expect Chargers To Move To L.A.

January 13th, 2016 at 11:39am CST by Luke Adams

With the Rams set to move to Los Angeles for the 2016 season, the Chargers now face a decision on whether or not to join them. The team will have just over two months to come up with a plan for 2016, but according to multiple reports, NFL owners expect Dean Spanos‘ franchise to ultimately make the move to Inglewood.

While Spanos will have to overcome the initial shock of losing out on the Carson project, the thinking among owners is that, once he has a chance to process the Inglewood opportunity, he’ll “pounce,” writes Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. According to Florio, the Chargers have already begun working directly with the league to finalize the parameters of an Inglewood deal.

That detail is important — as Florio notes, the NFL will be involved in the negotiations, if necessary. Stan Kroenke has reportedly promised the rest of the league’s owners that he’ll be reasonable and won’t play hardball when it comes to taking on a partner – or a tenant – and it sounds like the NFL will be keeping a close eye on the situation to make sure the talks go smoothly.

Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com and Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune also suggest it’s more likely that the Chargers will make the move to L.A. rather than staying in San Diego. Acee tweets that, at best, it’s 50/50 that the team will try to make a go of it in San Diego, and he acknowledges that even that estimate may be optimistic. “99 out of 100 would take this [Inglewood] deal,” one source tells Florio.

It’s still possible that Spanos will have the Chargers play at least one more year in San Diego in the hopes that the city can improve its stadium proposal by the end of 2016. But there are plenty of incentives for Kroenke and the Rams to try to secure a partner in Inglewood sooner rather than later.

As Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com reported earlier today, and as Florio confirms, the Rams can’t sell PSLs and stadium naming rights, among other things, until February 15, 2017, unless they bring a second team aboard before then. If they were to strike a deal with the Chargers, the Rams can begin selling those premium products right away.

Florio passes along a couple other items of note related to the L.A. situation, writing that owners were “blown away” by the Inglewood presentation in Houston, with one source suggesting that if the Inglewood proposal was like watching Star Wars, the Carson plan was like watching “a home movie from the ’70s.” Florio also reports that there’s a strong belief Bengals owner Mike Brown was one of two owners who voted against the Inglewood plan.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Los Angeles Leftovers: Raiders/Chargers Notes

January 13th, 2016 at 9:15am CST by Luke Adams

Earlier today, we rounded up several updates on Los Angeles relocation from the perspective of the Rams and their Inglewood stadium project. Of course, while the Rams have some sense of resolution now, the other two teams involved in the situation – the Raiders and Chargers – remain in limbo.

The Chargers will have to regroup and decide whether they want to attempt to work out a deal with Stan Kroenke at the Rams that puts them in Los Angeles for 2016. As for the Raiders, the official statement from the team in the wake of the NFL’s big Tuesday decision didn’t even mention Oakland, and owner Mark Davis alluded to finding a home for the franchise. So while the Raiders may end up back in Oakland in 2016, the club’s long-term future in the Bay Area is far from secure.

Here are a few updates on the Raiders’ and Chargers’ situation as those franchises look ahead to their next steps:

If the Chargers end up deciding to move to Inglewood, the Raiders may zero in on San Diego, according to Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News (Twitter links). Bonsignore adds that there’s no chance the Raiders will try to move to St. Louis, and Jaguars owner Shad Khan told Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link) that his franchise won’t be heading to Missouri either.
According to Peter King of TheMMQB.com, there are some indications that Chargers owner Dean Spanos will try to strike a deal with Kroenke and the Rams within the next month or two, but that’s not his first preference. King adds that it’s a long shot to think that the Inglewood stadium will ever be a real option for Mark Davis and the Raiders.
Spanos, who will spend the next few weeks weighing his options, called the process “excruciating, for everyone,” per Bernie Wilson of The Associated Press. According to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link), the Chargers brass was “floored” by Tuesday’s outcome.
Spanos’ options if he tries to strike a deal with Kroenke will likely come down to putting up $500MM+ for the new stadium to become a partner in the project, or going in as a tenant, says La Canfora (Twitter links). As the CBS scribe observes, coming aboard as a tenant on an affordable lease would be more within Spanos’ price range, but he wouldn’t share in the wealth as much in that scenario.
Per La Canfora (Twitter links), the Rams can’t sell PSLs and stadium naming rights, among other things, until February 15, 2017, unless they bring a second team aboard before then, so there’s incentive for Kroenke to get something done with Spanos and the Chargers.

Los Angeles Leftovers: Rams/Inglewood Notes

January 13th, 2016 at 8:39am CST by Luke Adams

The Rams are headed back to Los Angeles for the 2016 season, and the Inglewood and St. Louis mayors predictably had quite different reactions to Tuesday’s big announcement. As Martin Rogers of USA Today details, Inglewood mayor James T. Butts was “justifiably jubilant,” calling it a “transformative moment in our history.” St. Louis mayor Francis Slay, on the other hand, responded by ripping the NFL, per Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz of USA Today.

“The NFL ignored the facts, the loyalty of St. Louis fans, who supported the team through far more downs than ups, and the NFL ignored a strong market and viable plan for a new stadium,” Slay said. “I am proud of our effort and what St. Louis was able to accomplish in an extraordinarily short period of time. I thank everyone who worked so diligently on this project, especially the Governor’s Task Force.”

There’s plenty to digest when it comes to the Rams’ move to the West Coast, so we’ll be breaking down the news in multiple posts today, starting with the Rams’ perspective and checking in on the Raiders and Chargers a little later. Here’s the latest on Stan Kroenke‘s team:

Kroenke will have the option of paying the $550MM relocation fee up front or at a rate of about $64MM annually for 10 years, tweets Jim Trotter of ESPN. The Rams owner is expected to pay the fee up front. Meanwhile, Trotter adds (via Twitter) that Kroenke is expected to write a check worth $1.05 billion to put toward the cost of the Inglewood stadium.
Cowboys owner and Inglewood native Jerry Jones, never one to shy away from hyperbole, called Kroenke’s stadium plan “absolutely the greatest plan ever conceived in sports, as far as how to put the show on,” as Tom Pelissero of USA Today details. That’s high praise coming from the owner whose team plays in the extravagant AT&T Stadium in Dallas.
Jones also said that he had never been in an NFL meeting where so many people voted for what a committee didn’t recommend, says Peter King of TheMMQB.com. One source tells King that the key to the vote was changing from public to secret ballots — the support for the Carson plan “evaporated in a flash” at that point. “The surprise of the day was getting the 21 votes right off the bat,” a source said. “That set the tone. This is the league’s biggest asset, and it’s significant that they awarded it to Stan. They trust him.”
A high-ranking club source tells King that the quality of Kroenke’s proposal and the amenities the stadium will feature will major factors — the inclusion of a new campus for NFL media helped sway many owners to the Inglewood plan.
The NFL’s move back to Los Angeles was a long time coming, but to see why the league’s owners were willing to go all-in on Kroenke’s Inglewood stadium plan, one just needs to follow the money, writes Andrew Brandt of TheMMQB.com.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wonders if Kroenke will want to share the Los Angeles market with another team, or if he’ll play hardball in an effort to keep it for himself.

Latest On Possible Relocation For Chargers, Rams

January 12th, 2016 at 9:21pm CST by Zachary Links

After much back-and-forth in Houston, NFL owners have voted to approve a plan that will put the Rams back in Los Angeles. However, it’s not immediately clear what this news means for the other two teams that were vying for L.A. relocation. The Chargers will have the option to join the Rams at their Inglewood site until through January 16th, 2017. If they do not sign up to share a stadium with the Rams by then, the Raiders will have first crack at stepping in as the second team in Inglewood. Rams owner Stan Kroenke is celebrating tonight, but this news isn’t necessarily good news for the Chargers or Raiders. The Bolts, in particular, don’t seem to have much leverage now to work with the Rams if they do decide to relocate.

“My goal from the start of this process was to create the options necessary to safeguard the future of the Chargers franchise while respecting the will of my fellow NFL owners. Today we achieved this goal with the compromise reached by NFL ownership,” Chargers owner Dean Spanos said in a diplomatic statement. “The Chargers have been approved to relocate to Los Angeles, at the Inglewood location, at any time in the next year. In addition, the NFL has granted an additional $100MM in assistance in the event there is a potential solution that can be placed before voters in San Diego. I will be working over the next several weeks to explore the options that we have now created for ourselves to determine the best path forward for the Chargers.”

Here’s more on the Rams, Chargers, Raiders, and Los Angeles:

The Chargers have until the March 23rd – the conclusion of the NFL meetings – to decide whether they’re playing in the L.A. area or in San Diego for 2016, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Mark Davis said that this decision is “not a win” for the Raiders, as Judy Battista of NFL.com tweets. “We’ll see where Raider nation ends up,” Davis said.
Davis made zero commitment to playing in Oakland in 2016, as Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com tweets. Of course, since L.A. is now not in the cards for the Raiders, it’s hard to see them playing anywhere else this fall. Beyond the 2016 season, however, it remains to be seen where the Raiders could wind up. He also said the extra $100MM that will be granted to his team by the NFL if he stays put “won’t bridge the gap” in Oakland (link).

Rams To Move To Los Angeles, Chargers Could Join

January 12th, 2016 at 8:20pm CST by Zachary Links

8:20pm: Giants co-owner Steve Tisch says it’s “unlikely” that the Chargers will play in L.A. in 2016, as Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post tweets.

7:50pm: The Rams are officially moving to Los Angeles and the Chargers will have the first crack at joining them through January 16th, 2017, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Following that, the Raiders will have preference, sources say.

If either the Rams or Chargers remain in their current cities, then they will receive $100MM to build stadiums (link). Meanwhile, USC has signed off on two NFL teams sharing the L.A. Coliseum starting as soon as 2016, Jason La Canfora of NFL.com tweets.

7:02pm: The Raiders have agreed to exit their “exclusive partnership” with the Chargers, setting up a potential pairing of the Rams and Chargers in Los Angeles, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports tweets.

If they leave San Diego, the Chargers could join the Rams immediately in Los Angeles for the 2016 season while playing at a temporary site. Alternatively, the Chargers could wait and play in San Diego until 2017 or later. Theoretically, the Chargers could treat their current home – Qualcomm Stadium – as their temporary site until the brand new facility is built in Inglewood. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will be the likely stopgap for the Rams until their new stadium is erected.

6:46pm: The Rams are heading back to Los Angeles, according to Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News (on Twitter). The only question now is whether the Chargers will join them now or join them later.

On Tuesday night in Houston, owners cast their votes on two proposals: one which would green light the Chargers/Raiders plan in Carson, Calif. and the other pairing the Rams and another team in Inglewood, Calif. That first round of votes did not yield the 24 votes needed for either proposal. Now, it appears that the Rams have gotten the green light to move to their planned stadium in Inglewood. The Chargers could still move to L.A., but they won’t be heading to their proposed site in Carson, it seems.

The Raiders will receive additional loan money earmarked for a future stadium in their home market when this becomes official, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (on Twitter) hears. Bonsignore (on Twitter) believes that the Raiders could now immediately turn their attention to San Diego given the strength of that market.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Owners Leaning Towards Rams/Chargers In Los Angeles

January 12th, 2016 at 6:29pm CST by Zachary Links

6:29pm: Rams players were told that they could receive word on Los Angeles tonight, Alex Marvez of FOX Sports tweets.

Meanwhile, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross’ plane is slated to leave Houston tonight and Ben Volin of The Boston Globe (on Twitter) wonders if that’s a sign that the L.A. decision will come down this evening.

5:21pm: In Houston, owners have cast their votes on two proposals: one which would green light the Chargers/Raiders plan in Carson, Calif. and the other pairing the Rams and another team in Inglewood, Calif. The first vote has not yielded the 24 votes needed for either proposal, as Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times tweets.

The Rams/TBD pitch came rather close to winning with 20 votes from owners. Meanwhile, a dozen owners voted in favor of the joint Chargers/Raiders plan. Now, the plans will – again – be put to a vote, with the hope that one of the proposals reaches the necessary 75% (32 votes).

On Tuesday, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones got the necessary support for his Rams/team TBD proposal to be placed on the voting ballot. Meanwhile, a proposal that would only relocate the Rams to Inglewood was taken off the ballot. It appears that Jones has talked many of the league’s owners into a forced marriage between the Rams and Bolts. The Raiders, theoretically, could be that mystery team, but the Chargers have always been viewed as the stronger fit for L.A. than the Raiders. If the Inglewood plan wins out, the key parties involved will have to figure out how to bust up the paperwork binding the Raiders and Chargers together in a proposed L.A. move.

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