Posted on 09/24/2013 8:44:17 PM PDT by BenLurkin
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A resolution, uring the NFL to bring back at least one, or possibly two teams to Los Angeles, has been backed by the Los Angeles City Council’s Economic Development Committee.
The resolution is now ready to go before the full City Council.
Councilman Tom LaBonge, the author of the resolution, said it “puzzles me why, out of 32 teams, one doesn’t want to come here to sunny Southern California.”
LaBonge’s resolution declares interest in making Los Angeles a two-team city, while local football enthusiasts have struggled getting even one team to stay.
Brian McCarthy, a spokesman for the NFL, said that the league is keeping its eye on Los Angeles.
“We continue to closely monitor all stadium developments in the Los Angeles area,” McCarthy said.
LaBonge, meanwhile, has stated that his “real hope is the league expands” from 32 to 34 teams, allowing Los Angeles to get its own team or teams, rather than getting teams from other cities.
The St. Louis Rams, the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers are all considered likely candidates to relocate due to the idea that they may be interested in upgrading their stadium facilities.
All three of those teams are former residents of Los Angeles.
The Chargers played in Los Angeles in 1960 during the team’s first season as part of the American Football League.
When LaBonge was asked whether he would welcome the Raiders back to Los Angeles, he joked that he would, as long as several former Raiders from the 1980s, including Marcus Allen and Howie Long, are called out of retirement.
LaBonge addressed a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in early September urging an end to an 18-season NFL drought in Los Angeles.
In his missive, LaBonge professed his deep love for football and suggested it’s time to “call an audible” after years of unfulfilled plans.
“We’ve waited far too long to root for the home team” LaBonge said of the renewed efforts to show the NFL the city’s enthusiasm for football.
“Our collective excitement for the new NFL season is dampened by Los Angeles’ lack of a team.”
Los Angeles has been without an NFL team since 1994. In 1995, the Los Angeles Raiders returned to Oakland, after occupying the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum near USC from 1982 to 1994, and the Los Angeles Rams, who played in Anaheim Stadium, moved to St. Louis.
A deal was signed last fall by city leaders with entertainment and sports events company AEG that intended to redevelop the Los Angeles Convention Center to include additional exhibition space. The agreement includes using a football stadium project at the site as leverage for bringing in financing for the improvements to the convention center.
The transition of the city’s mayor also shifted the city’s attitude toward bringing in an NFL team. New mayor Eric Garcetti has said that, while he would welcome a team, it was not his top priority.
California may lose the teams that are still there due to the tax differential. Notice it is the government that is begging. Owners don’t seem to be lining up.
LA is bankrupt. The State is bankrupt. So you float $2B in bonds to pay for it. With whose credit?
Um, maybe because NFL owners are too smart to want to go bankrupt just so "sunny Southern California" can have a team or two?
“Councilman Tom LaBonge, the author of the resolution, said it “puzzles me why, out of 32 teams, one doesn’t want to come here to sunny Southern California.”
Probably because you once had two teams and no one supported them. The Rams went to St Louis because fan support sucked, the Raiders went back to Oakland for the same reason. LA had their shot, the blew it. The NFL needs to move on. LA is a college football and NBA town.
Lived in SoCal. LA is too stupid to deserve a team. Each time the NFL starts making plans they pull the “...and we’ll put them in the Collosium” caveat. No team will ever, ever, ever agree to play in the hole even with renovations. It is gang territory. It is scummy.
I was thinking we could get Louis B. Mayer, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Don Ameche to buy majority shares in the team.
Besides they already have two “football” teams, Chivas USA and the Galaxy. ;)
Do the folks in LA want a team? They seem happy without one.
*Portland is the largest metro area other than LA which doesn't have a team in easy driving distance.
Does LA know it don’t have a NFL team? They’re happy down there with the fake Beach Boys, Disneygayland and Meheekostan.
Seeing as how the bulk of those living in the LA region are now Hispanic, the level of enthusiasm for an NFL team in LA is limited to politicians.
Most of the residents are more than happy to root for Mexico’s Soccer team.
Ha! Don Ameche? I have not heard that name in years!! I think(?) Bob Hope held a small interest in the L.A. Rams back in the day. Maybe it was another NFL team, I’m not sure. I do know that he was involved with the ownership of the Cleveland Indians MLB team for a few years. I have an old ‘Sport Magazine’, (I have a very extensive, but not a complete collection, of those mags, from it’s first issue in 1946 to about 1972, when I quit collecting. More than a few SI’s also), with Hope on the cover. Bob Hope was one heck of a great American in my opinion. The amount of time he gave entertaining our troops, home and abroad, was flat incredible!
When the AAFC broke up, the best players on the LA Dons went to the LA Rams. Some other teams stayed intact when they merged with the NFL, notably the San Francisco 49ers and the Cleveland Browns. The other teams folded.
Even if you had front row tickets on the 50 yard line, you'd need binoculars. If you were up in the cheap seats, you were probably closer to your own home than you were to the game down on the field. They've since made changes to the Coliseum for USC games, but the Raiders were long gone by that time.
The Coliseum was intended for Olympic track and field events. They can close half of the stands and still seat something like 60,000 people.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.