Carson, Inglewood Stadium Plans Raise Odds Of NFL's Return
CARSON (CBSLA.com) — With the addition of a proposed $1.7 billion stadium that would house the Raiders and Chargers if they cannot get new facilities in their current cities, there are now four players attempting to return the NFL to the Southland.
During an event that was more of a pep rally than a news conference, CBS2's Dave Lopez reported, officials from the city of Carson and members of the recently formed Carson2gether group formally announced the Raiders-Chargers stadium plan on Friday morning. There were no speakers from either team's front office.
"The financing which we provide will rely solely upon the revenues generated by the stadium from football and other events," said Tim Rone of Goldman Sachs, providing the only specific information about the joint partnership between the teams, which will each provide $850 million in financing. The state-of-the-art stadium would be built on a 168-acre site near the 405 Freeway at Del Amo Boulevard. The project would require no tax money.
The teams already own the land, closing the deal at an unknown price 30 days ago. That did not please San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer.
"But to see the fact that the Chargers over the last several months have been saying they were monitoring things in LA, that they were keeping an eye on LA, well that wasn't open and upfront with San Diegans." Faulconer said. "They were actively working to go to LA with the Raiders."
Meanwhile, Inglewood Mayor James Butts said the Carson proposal has had no effect on plans for a stadium that could host the Rams in his city.
"Our stadium will be built first, long before anyone else could possibly build a stadium," Butts told Lopez on Friday.
Stan Kroenke, the owner of the St. Louis Rams, has invested $93 million of his own money in a plan that would also include the owners of Hollywood Park.
If the Inglewood City Council gives the go-ahead next Tuesday, groundbreaking for the stadium could take place in December, Butts said.
"We have been efficient, we have been effective," Butts said.
That puts the Inglewood plan further along than any of the other three proposals, which also include Ed Roski's development in City of Industry and Farmer's Field in Downtown Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said that the arrival of any NFL team in the region would be positive for the city, but he is still pushing for the development of Farmer's Field.
"LA is going to win no matter where we land a team or teams," Garcetti said. "That said, my top priority ... is to maintain the momentum of downtown and to expand the convention center, and we can do that with or without a football stadium. It would be a great thing, I think we have the best deal for football, it's already ready to go, all the environmental work has been done and it's funded."
A statement from NFL executive Vice President Eric Grubman was cautiously optimistic.
"No project is certain until all the issues have been worked out ... but two potentially viable projects pushing ahead increases the probability that something could get done," Grubman wrote.