Los Angeles greenlights $1.2 billion football stadium

Reuters ^ | 9-28-12 | Ronald Grover

[dynachrome]

The Los Angeles City Council on Friday approved a $1.2 billion plan to build a downtown football stadium, moving America's second most populous city closer than it's been in nearly two decades to having a professional football team.

Council members voted unanimously in favor of the Anschutz Entertainment Group's proposal to erect the 72,000-seat stadium in the city's downtown core. It will be named "Farmer's Field." AEG, controlled by billionaire Phil Anschutz, is up for sale but an agreement with the city will require its new owners to take up the stadium project.

[dynachrome]

Bend over taxpayers! (those of you who are left)

[scooby321]

LOl Bankrupt city

[Fiji Hill]

Los Angeles doesn’t need an NFL team. We have two excellent college teams—the Occidental College Tigers and the USC Trojans.

[jazusamo]

Exactly! What few taxpayers are left are not going to support this as well as all the free loaders they're supporting now.

[KarlInOhio]

Every other team better get their new taxchump paid stadiums quickly. Once LA has a team the biggest threat will be "Build us a stadium or we move to Portland," and that just isn't as frightening as threatening to move the team to LA.

(Portland, Oregon is the largest metropolitan area without an NFL team in easy driving distance)

[ansel12]

This is twice the price of the high school that they built just a few years ago.

[Uncle Chip]

If you build it they will come ........... and go.

[henkster]

It will be the Los Angeles Jaguars. Goodbye Jacksonville.

[henkster]

You already have a professional football team; the aforementioned Trojans.

[TheBattman]

Umm... isn’t this the same California that is still juggling solvency?

[fhayek]

Have the USC Trojans ever faced the Oregon State Beavers? Just wondering.

[chrisinoc]

This will be a privately funded stadium, although some taxpayer money would probably have to go into improvements around the stadium.

Even the idiots in LA County know a public owned stadiums are a waste of money. See Memorial Coliseum, Sports Arena, Rose Bowl, and Long Beach Arena.

[Uncle Chip]

They are doing that in St Louis with the Rams. The Rams billionaire owner wants the city to update the 17 year old stadium for $700,000,000. City countered with $140,000,000 in updates. It's now in arbitration.

The city can't afford police on the streets much less 140 million. The games bring little to no revenue to the city or the businesses down there just the prestige of an NFL team. Try taking that to the bank.

The Rams with this news may be headed back to LA and St Louis won't miss them.

[norton]

AEG executives say they plan to lure a National Football League team to anchor the new stadium. The St. Louis Rams and Oakland Raiders are among teams expected to be contacted.

Sounds like a great idea; the LA Raiders II and the LA Rams III....worked real good when they tried it before.

But it'll make for a great soccer field.

[count-your-change]

Of course it will require kicking a few people out of their homes and business. But no billionaires will be harmed by this construction.

[Chode]

$1.2 BILLION... for EIGHT GAMES A YEAR!!!

[Fiji Hill]

Have the USC Trojans ever faced the Oregon State Beavers? Just wondering.

The Trojans have played both the Oregon State Beavers and the Cal Tech Beavers.

[Uncle Chip]

The vote was overshadowed by the recent announcement that AEG was seeking a new owner, though company officials have assured City Hall the stadium plan will remain the same, even if the company changes hands.

If this is such a great deal then why sell it???

AEG, ... has deep ties to City Hall.

Ya think???

[Sequoyah101]

Insane.

Like starving people borrowing money to buy souvenirs instead of food.

Surely this can’t go on for very much longer.

[Nuc 1.1]

Football is soo over. Costs too much to attend. Business is too arrogant. Lawsuits for head injuries and others that will surly follow will impose almost fatal financial harm. The imminent financial collapse of America will finish the job. At least for a while.