Could the St. Louis Rams return to Los Angeles?
There are new signs that the St. Louis Rams may return to their old home in Los Angeles. Rams owner Stan Kroenke is teaming up with others to build a new stadium that would be the centerpiece of a nearly 300-acre sports and entertainment complex, reports CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy.
Twenty years ago, Los Angeles lost two NFL franchises, the Raiders and the Rams. The city's tried repeatedly since then to get back in the league, with proposals to build new stadiums or fix up the old L.A. Coliseum or Rose Bowl. But the "City of Champions Revitalization Project" plan laid out Monday could be the city's best chance yet.
The plan, which needs voter approval, calls for a stadium to be built next to the legendary Forum, the site of so many Lakers' NBA titles.
"There will be no public dollars, no taxpayer dollars used for this project, and the Sports and Entertainment district could open in 2018," Wilson Meany partner Chris Meany said.
Backers said the project is 100 percent privately financed.
"Kroenke has taken the most significant step in making everybody on the outside who have been skeptical in the past, believe this NFL to Los Angeles thing really is going to happen," Yahoo! Sports NFL insider Rand Getlin said.
Los Angeles has been shut out of the NFL since 1994, ever since the rams left for St. Louis and the Raiders returned to Oakland.
"The fan base can be fair-weather," Getlin said. "You need to have a product on the field that's extremely competitive. But most importantly, in the NFL, and you have to really keep this in mind, the dollars have to make sense."
There's no guarantee that Kroenke even intends to move the Rams back. He's still in talks with St. Louis officials about building a new stadium there.
Developers of the Los Angeles site said they will build a stadium regardless.
"The Kroenke Group develops sports and entertainment venues for teams they own and teams that they don't own. They lease their properties out to other franchises," Meany said.
The Raiders and the San Diego Chargers, both of which play in antiquated stadiums, have also been mentioned as possible Los Angeles transplants.
Two other competing stadium plans are already in the works. One envisions a stadium in the heart of the city. The other in the suburbs, 15 minutes north of Disneyland.
"I think for the first time, NFL fans in Los Angeles can be confident that they are going to have at least one team, and potentially two, back in the City of Angels," Getlin said.
To many long-suffering Angelenos, that would probably feel like a major victory.