Los Angeles' NFL Dreams Are Getting Dimmer, Not Closer

In the city where the surreal sometimes becomes reality, the sports environment of Los Angeles is becoming more and more unbelievable every day.

First, there is the news that a franchise that should be one of the top 10 in value in Major League Baseball is teetering on bankruptcy.

The other is the state of Los Angeles' attempts to get back into the NFL.

Nothing would please the NFL better.  It has been shut out of the second largest market in North America for 15 years. 

The departure of the NFL from Los Angeles has been the most humiliating (and perhaps only) blemish on the league since it began its spectacular rise in the 1960s.

All the other big four sports, baseball, basketball and hockey, have two franchises in the Los Angeles area.  The NFL would be happy if they could get one.

But unreal conditions in Los Angeles make it impossible for the NFL to take things seriously.

Realistically, the idea was formulated that to attract the NFL and make the new franchise a success, a new modern football stadium had to be built.

But instead of concentrating on getting one stadium built so that a new franchise could be acquired, there are now two separate groups trying to build two stadiums in different locations.

If one NFL franchise could not survive before, how do they expect two new teams to be established without even one of them putting down roots in the city?

A bewildering outcome is more likely to occur instead of two flourishing NFL teams.

Mostly likely what will happen is:

A state of uncertainty, suspicion and fears of financial loss develops, so neither stadium gets built.

or

One stadium will get built and the other doesn't, leaving one group of investors angry having lost a lot of money and time.

or

Two stadiums get built, but only one gets a franchise, again leaving one group of investors with an enormous loss.

The other unrealistic condition that has been set is that the competing groups don't want to try to get a new expansion team, but want to steal an established team from another city.

They refuse to begin construction until an established team has been secured.

While this has happened too often in the NFL, most sports leagues don't like to see their franchises moved.

Usually one of two things have to happen for such a transfer to occur.

First, the existing situation has to be deemed hopeless by the league, as was the case in the recent Atlanta-Winnipeg NHL situation, or the Seattle-Oklahoma City NBA transfer.

or

Second, an owner has to be wooed by a large bribe, an offer he cannot refuse.  This has been the case in many of the NFL franchise transfers.

Seven NFL cities have been mentioned as targets by would-be Los Angeles owners, but to this date, there hasn't been one report about any serious negotiations taking place.

And as time passes, there is a greater chance that a troubled team can settle its own local issues and remain in its original area.

Already there is talk that San Francisco-Oakland will have a new shared stadium built soon.  That's two of the targets removed.

Most franchise transfers occur after a new stadium or arena has been built.  A league wants to see tangible evidence that a bidder is serious about getting a team.

Making demands about stealing an established team without building a stadium paints a bidder into a corner.  It makes it easy for the NFL to dismiss such offers without any loss to itself.

Usually when the NFL expands, it does it in pairs.  There are no shortage of possible partnering cities to join Los Angeles, including San Antonio, Portland, Toronto, Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City, Birmingham and Orlando. But Los Angeles' stance of wanting an established team instead of an expansion team precludes any such attempt.

Two years after first announcing that Los Angeles wanted to get back into the NFL, there have been a lot legal obstacles cleared and a lot of money spent on political and legal bills. Even with the hopes of the NFL to get back into its second largest market, the city is still no closer to building a stadium or getting a team.