1:59pm: A league source tells Albert Breer and Steve Wyche of NFL.com that the NFL has discussed the possibility of Dodger Stadium, Angel Stadium of Anaheim, or the StubHub Center serving as a temporary venue for a Los Angeles franchise. The duo also confirms that the league submitted requests to the Rose Bowl and the Coliseum.
The league’s goal is to negotiate with venues in the coming months, and perhaps to select a site and have it ready even before an NFL team officially announces its intent to relocate. As Breer and Wyche observe, two temporary stadiums may be necessary if two NFL teams move to L.A.
8:57am: The NFL is moving forward on preparing for a possible relocation to Los Angeles for the 2016 season, according to Sam Farmer of Los Angeles Times, who reports that the league has begun issuing proposal requests to venues in Southern California. These venues, including the Coliseum and the Rose Bowl, would be potential temporary homes for any club that moved to L.A., as construction took place on a new stadium.
“It is part of the process and an effort to understand all of our options and have a well thought out plan if a team or teams were to be approved to relocate,” said Chris Hardart, the NFL’s vice preisdent of corporate development. Hardart declined to identify any other potential venues besides the Coliseum and the Rose Bowl, though Farmer notes that league executives have previously cited Dodger Stadium as another possible temporary solution.
The NFL has a special meeting on its schedule for August 11 in Chicago to update team owners on the Los Angeles situation. Per Farmer, the league wants to know which temporary L.A. venues are in play – and what their capabilities and limitations are – before that August meeting takes place.
As Farmer points out, while the NFL has flirted with the idea of moving a team back to Los Angeles multiple times over the last two decades, the league has never gone so far as to commit to a temporary venue in the L.A. area. If things continue to move forward, that could happen at some point this fall, in advance of a team (or teams) gaining approval for relocation.