Roger Goodell: Oakland, San Diego, St. Louis NFL stadiums "inadequate"
Roger Goodell says the existing stadiums in St. Louis, San Diego and Oakland are "inadequate and unsatisfactory," and the proposals the Rams, Chargers and Raiders received to remain in their current cities lacked certainty.
A person who has seen the report told The Associated Press on Saturday night that the NFL commissioner sent 48 pages to team owners and cited a lack of longer-term solutions in plans to build new facilities. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the league has not released details of the report.
The Los Angeles Times first reported Goodell's comments.
A special owners meeting is scheduled next week for Houston, and relocation by one or two of those teams to Los Angeles will be discussed -- and quite possibly voted on. All three franchises applied for relocation last week, and at least 24 teams must vote for a franchise to move.
Goodell did not draw any conclusions on which teams should move, nor did he recommend either of two stadium sites being proposed.
Rams owner Stan Kroenke hopes to build a stadium in Inglewood on the site of the old Hollywood Park racetrack. The Chargers and Raiders jointly are proposing a stadium in Carson.
Earlier Saturday, CBSSports.com NFL Insider Jason La Canfora reported on a potential Rams-Chargers partnership, which further complicates the picture.
The report is a requirement of the NFL's relocation procedures. No franchise has moved since the Houston Oilers went to Tennessee in 1997. The Raiders and Rams both left Los Angeles after the 1994 season.
In Los Angeles, hundreds of "L.A. Rams" fans showed up Saturday at the Coliseum to voice support for the team's possible return to the city.
"The Rams should never have left. I'm sorry they did," former Ram Kermit Alexander told CBS Los Angeles. "We want them back. And we need them back."
Fans, some of whom rocked vintage Eric Dickerson and Ron Jaworski jerseys, spoke glowingly about the Rams' 49-year history in Los Angeles. The team played in Los Angeles from 1946-1994.
The Coliseum, where the Rams and Raiders played, would likely be the temporary home for any team relocating to L.A. next season.
Not to be left out, Chargers and Raiders fans flew message-trailing planes over the Rams rally.
Goodell also pointed out that city leaders in St. Louis, San Diego and Oakland agree that the existing stadiums don't work. He told the owners that further government approval for new stadiums, contingencies, and financial concerns plague the proposals
Adding that the Rams, Chargers and Raiders would not be breaking any leases by moving, Goodell also noted that the L.A.-area sites appear to be ready for development; that they are suitable to host one or two teams; they have no obvious contingencies; and that market research shows Los Angeles can support two NFL teams.
The report seems damning for St. Louis, which has a $1.1-billion riverfront stadium plan; for San Diego, which has a similarly priced plan for the Mission Valley, which is contingent on a public referendum in June; and for Oakland, which has no formal stadium plan, but has expressed interest in keeping the Raiders.
Goodell mentioned in the report that the St. Louis plan requests league loans $100 million in excess of the maximum provided under current league policies. The Rams belittled that proposal last week.