This NFL offseason that we’re experiencing is one of a kind. The next stadium update swings the pendulum in one direction. The fan base in one market can feel the excitement of a roller coaster going up a hill, while the fan base in a market competing for the same stadium feels their stomach drop like when a coaster plummets.
Starting in Oakland, SB Nation reported that Oakland Athletics Owner Lew Wolff signed a 10-year deal with the coliseum. Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis said that he wanted a new stadium built on the site of the current stadium. His vision for a new stadium is considered relatively cheap compared to the cost in Carson, Inglewood or St. Louis. It appears that the A’s owner has no intention to share the land there. So what are the Raiders to do? Move to Carson.
Carson City, California suddenly has a legitimate shot at becoming the new home of the Chargers and Raiders. The NFL has always been fond of Carson, despite its once being a landfill site. And even though all the waste has been cleaned up, there are still remnants of rubbish going on in city hall. As former Mayor Jim Dear was quoted in the L.A. Times, “They are showing the NFL and the world that Carson is rampant with corruption. Which football team ownership builds a stadium in a city with corrupt council members?”
The City of Inglewood is interesting too. The kinship between the city of Inglewood and St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke is suspicious and has been for years. According to the L.A. Times, Hollywood Park Land Co. and Kroenke have donated $118,500 to the city’s mayor and councilmen.
The San Diego Chargers are at a crossroads now, and it appears that there is no possible way to get a local stadium ballot measure in front of voters until the end of 2015 – too late for the NFL. As NFL VP Eric Grubman has said, “Time is of the essence.”
Unfortunately, it’s shaping up like the Chargers and Raiders are likely to move, giving current stadium situations. But, this story is far from over.
For more Rams Roundup, please subscribe to our page at youtube.com/stlamericanvideo and follow on Twitter @thelegendkil.
