Updated at 12:45 p.m. Jan. 12, 2016
The owners of the San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders and St. Louis Rams Tuesday made final pitches on their proposed Los Angeles-area stadium projects to their National Football League colleagues, who could decide at a meeting in Houston which among them get to move away from their current city.
Chargers Chairman Dean Spanos, Raiders owner Mark Davis and Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke out on behalf of their shared stadium proposal in Carson.
“Dean Spanos, Marc Davis and I spoke of our passion in bringing the NFL back to Los Angeles, talked about the wonderful attributes of the Carson project, and spoke from our hearts,” Iger told Chargers.com. “I think our comments resonated.”
He said Carson’s central location in Southern California was one of the major benefits over the plan by Rams owner Stan Kroenke to build a stadium in Inglewood, on the site of the old Hollywood Park racetrack.
Spanos has wanted a replacement for San Diego’s aging Qualcomm Stadium for around 15 years, a quest stymied thus far by the city’s fiscal problems of a decade ago, the recession and difficulty in finding a suitable site.
When Kroenke about a year ago proposed building the Inglewood stadium, the Chargers and Raiders responded by announcing plans to construct the Carson facility. The Chargers, who have played in San Diego for 55 years, contend that 25 percent of their business comes from Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire.
It remains unclear whether any decisions made by the owners this week will be final, and speculation has swirled regarding various scenarios. The owners began arriving at their hotel Monday amid reports that a consensus was developing within the league for the Chargers and St. Louis Rams to share the Inglewood stadium — not the arrangement Chargers management has been pushing.
Reports today, however, suggested that a committee of six owners studying how to relocate a team to Los Angeles favor the Carson project.
Spanos has stood by his partnership with Davis. He rejected a partnership with Kroenke in a letter to Goodell last month, and reiterated his support for the Carson project.
League officials and owners who spoke on the condition of anonymity told the Los Angeles Times that Spanos doesn’t want to be seen as turning his back on a partner, making the path to what had been emerging as the preferred pairing more difficult.
It has long been believed that while neither the Inglewood nor Carson projects had the 24 votes needed for approval by the NFL owners, league officials are committed to a return to Los Angeles this year. That situation led to recent talks among the owners and league executives to establish a consensus in time for the Houston meeting.
Mayor Kevin Faulconer established a task force that has recommended building a new facility next to Qualcomm Stadium, but the Chargers broke off negotiations on the proposal lastJune. The team’s refusal to restart talks prevented what could have been a citywide vote on the proposal this month.
On Saturday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell distributed a report to owners that said plans by San Diego, Oakland and St. Louis are “unsatisfactory and inadequate.” Among other things, the league objects to uncertainty created by San Diego’s demand that plans for a stadium project be put before voters — something the Chargers once supported.
Chris Melvin, an attorney and lead negotiator for the city and county of San Diego, said Sunday that the Chargers created their own uncertainty.
“We could have already gained voter approval of a stadium under the plan laid out this summer by the city and county,” Melvin said. “But the Chargers stonewalled, rebuffed attempts to negotiate a term sheet, and refused to act. Despite all this, San Diego has proven that it’s a region that supports its major league teams.”
As the owners deliberated how to facilitate a move to Los Angeles, a handful of Raiders fans gathered outside their hotel in Houston — along with one Chargers fan who traveled from La Jolla.
Richard Farley told 10News it would hurt if the Chargers were given the go-ahead to move after a 55-year stay in San Diego.
“It would be like a shot to the heart,” Farley said. “As far as going up to Carson, I would probably stop being a fan. It just would not be the same.”
— City News Service
