Teams reaffirm plan to share Los Angeles-area stadium

By Ken Belson, New York Times News Service

Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015 | 12:29 a.m.

The San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders remain committed to building a stadium together in Carson, California, if owners of the other franchises approve the teams’ applications to move to the Los Angeles area.

In a letter sent last week to the owners committee overseeing the league’s return to the Los Angeles area, the country’s second-largest market, the Chargers’ chairman, Dean Spanos, dismissed an overture by the St. Louis Rams owner, E. Stanley Kroenke, who said he was willing to let a second team invest in a rival stadium that he hopes to build in Inglewood, California.

“Nothing in Stan’s letter gives me any reason to reconsider my partnership with Mark Davis and our chosen stadium site,” Spanos wrote, referring to the owner of the Raiders. “I firmly believe that the proposal we have jointly made is in the best interests of the entire league and is in complete compliance with the league’s relocation policies.”

Davis sent a nearly identical letter to the Los Angeles committee.

For months, owners have been weighing the merits of the two projects. Kroenke said he would like to build a domed stadium that would be a part of a larger entertainment district in Inglewood, while Spanos and Davis would construct an outdoor stadium in Carson.

In late November, Kroenke wrote to the owners on the Los Angeles committee to say that he would allow a second team to help pay for the costs of building his stadium in return for half the football-related revenue. But the second team would have no say in the design of the stadium or share in any of the profits from other elements of the project.

The letter was viewed by some league executives as an effort to fracture the partnership between Spanos and Davis. The two owners, though, recruited Bob Iger, chairman of the Walt Disney Co., to help build their stadium, should it win approval.

Relocation applications are expected to be filed next month. The owners could vote on them as soon as Jan. 12, when they meet again in Houston. At the meeting, the owners will also consider efforts by Oakland, San Diego and St. Louis to keep their teams from moving.

According to the league’s relocation guidelines, teams cannot leave their home markets if there is a credible effort by their host city to keep them there. Of the three cities, St. Louis has the most developed plan, which includes a $1 billion stadium on the banks of the Mississippi River.

An application to relocate requires approval by the owners of at least 24 teams. While a few owners have expressed a preference for one of the two proposals, most owners remain uncommitted.