NFL Owners Talk About Los Angeles

NFL team owners discussed today the possibility of a franchise moving to the Southland, and while no decisions were made on proposals by the San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders and St. Louis Rams, the league commissioner said there is definite interest in returning to the “entertainment capital of the world.”

But Roger Goodell said the league wants to ensure all of its relocation policies are met, and owners are concerned about the effect on a city that would lose a team should a franchise move to Los Angeles.

The owners expressed “a great deal of concern for the communities where these teams are playing now, wanting to continue to be there and be successful long term,” Goodell told reporters following the meeting in New York. “And also recognizing that we need to find a long-term solution here. I think there’s also an interest in being back in the entertainment capital of the world.
“But we have to do that right and there’s a process,” he said. “Our relocation policies are important. We need to make sure we follow those closely.”
The league is likely to vote in the coming months on a proposed move. The Rams are looking to move to a stadium at the former Hollywood Park racetrack in Inglewood, while the Chargers and Raiders are proposing a joint facility that would house both teams in Carson.
“I think it’s very positive that we have two alternatives,” Goodell said. “We have three teams that are interested that have been struggling to get stadiums built in their own communities for not just several years but even decades, and that’s something that — there’s a recognition that has to get resolved in the long term.”
Goodell stressed that there are still efforts to reach stadium deals in each of the team’s existing homes.
“I think there’s a tremendous recognition in those communities that the stadium needs to get built — there are efforts ongoing in many of those communities,” he said. “And then we talked about the L. A. projects themselves, our relocation policies and how important that is to not just the communities where the teams reside, but also our fans. And that’s a high priority for us.”

City News Service