NFL in LA: If You Come, He Will Build It

WANTED: Suffering NFL team with old, small stadium, terrible fan support to play in new LA stadium. Current revenue problems not a must. Happy teams need not apply.

If you are a struggling NFL franchise, Ed Roski has a "Field of Dreams" proposition for you.

Come play your home games in beautiful, sunny Los Angeles and he will build you a state of the art, environmentally friendly stadium guaranteed to boost you back to the playoffs.

What's that? You can't afford to pay for a new stadium?

That's fine too. Roski will pay for it.

Does it sound to good to be true? Yes. 

But is Roski serious? Does he actually have a firm plan? Is he ready to break ground for real?

Absolutely.

The Los Angeles area has been, ever since the mid-90s exodus of the Raiders and Rams to Oakland and St. Louis, respectively, a wasteland for NFL stadium and team relocation ideas.

I've been around long enough to have heard about how the Saints were going there after Katrina.  Before that, the Vikings were moving while they were for sale.  The Raiders were even going to move back over there. It seems that at some point, everyone has been moving to Los Angeles.

It was used as leverage for several teams to get new NFL stadiums in their hometown. 

It became a punchline.  Each year, there would be talk after the season about how a new stadium project in LA was "nearing construction" or "in the works."

Then, something would stop it. Or nothing would. It would just die of its own accord.

The difference between then and now? Ed Roski has the land, the labor, and the capital.  He also has backing from the government and, silently and unofficially, from the NFL itself.

The Land

If you get a chance, do a search for pictures of the proposed NFL stadium in Industry, located on the outskirts of Los Angeles.

It's not just a stadium, it's a work of art. 

It will be a departure from anything anyone currently has.  It will be built into a hill, the field sunken and the stands grafted onto the hillside.  It will have glass accents everywhere, a crystal palace that will gleam along with the rest of LA.

It will also be part of a larger development rumored to include a shopping center and hospital among other amenities.

In short, it's a beautiful project.

The Labor

Looking for someone to build a new stadium?  Los Angeles is going through a jobs crisis.

And how do you remedy a jobs crisis? You create jobs. Building an NFL stadium is one part of that, operating it and the surrounding developments is another. 

There still isn't a firm number on how many jobs this new venture will create, but the safe bet (and the obvious one) is that it will create more jobs than the Los Angeles area currently has available.

The Capital

Doing anything takes money. Building an NFL-caliber stadium takes lots of money.

$800 million in this case.

Where stadiums, like the one in my hometown of Pittsburgh were built with largely public funds and tax measures, Roski is proposing an entirely privately funded stadium venture (save for the already-approved $150 million for infrastructure improvements).

Like the headline says: If you come, he will build it.

His plan is to have one or even two franchises relocate to Los Angeles after this season and then have them play in the old Coliseum or another site until 2013, when the $800 million dollar hillside stadium will be ready for business.

The plan is pretty ambitious and has a much better chance of success than previous plans.  Roski is privately funding the stadium, which allows him to have much more freedom than anything publicly funded.

He also has a stadium and development plan that is not only beautiful, but functional and environmentally friendly.  This gives him another advantage.

And yesterday, he received support from California Governor (Governator?) Arnold Schwarzenegger in the form of a bill signing.

Now, all Roski needs is a team;that same stumbling block.  But there have been whispers among several teams the past few years that LA might be the way to go.

Buffalo plays in one of the league's oldest structures and also sports a declining fan base (perhaps due to their decade-long absence from the playoffs).  The team is rumored to be in a revenue-generating pickle.

Minnesota wants out of the ancient and unattractive Metrodome.  The team has declined to field offers from other cities, but that could change soon.

Jacksonville also wants a new stadium and also sports a lackluster fan base. 

It's worth noting that Buffalo and Jacksonville also face competition for fans from two other teams in the same state (The New York Jets and Giants (still considered New York teams regardless of their residence in New Jersey) and the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, respectively). 

In Los Angeles, there would still be other teams in the state, but there are more people to go around.  The rumor is that Los Angeles also would like to support an NFL team of their own again. Roski has also pointed out that neither the Rams nor Raiders lacked fan support when they bolted town.

The NFL, while a silent partner in all of this, wants a team in Los Angeles.  Odds are that they even know who they want there.

If I had to guess, I'd say that these are your four most likely teams (four because Roski is trying to attract not one but two)

(In order of likelihood):

1. Oakland Raiders

2. Buffalo Bills

3. Jacksonville Jaguars

4. San Diego Chargers

Other potentials could be Minnesota, San Francisco, or St. Louis among others.  Roski is apparently after as many as eight teams currently including all three California-based franchises.

Oakland and Buffalo are curious because, of the four, they are struggling the most in terms of fan support.  Jacksonville beats out San Diego, who needs a new stadium badly, because of a lack of fans as well. 

Of the remaining potentials, Minnesota has been in this discussion before while San Francisco and St. Louis are dark horses.  It will be interesting to see what new ownership does with St. Louis, which is why they are on this list.

So What's Going to Happen?

My guess is that we see a team in Los Angeles by the end of the 2010 season, if not,then after the current season.  Roski is for real and his plan is going to stir someone to make the move.