The San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders have come together in a joint proposal to build a $1.7 billion dollar stadium in Carson, Calif., near Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Chargers, Raiders could share proposed stadium in Los Angeles area
As both teams struggle to find support for new stadiums in their home markets, San Diego and Oakland’s owners are working together to find a solution in the nation’s second largest media market.
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The news comes as both teams struggle to find support for new venues in their current markets. The Chargers recently renewed their year-to-year lease on Qualcomm Stadium for the 2015 season, while the Raiders are also in a yearly commitment of their own.
The joint statement reiterates the teams’ goal in working with one another (via the Chargers’ official website):
“We have both been working in our home markets to find a stadium solution for many years, so far unsuccessfully. We remain committed to continuing to work in our home markets throughout 2015 to try to find publicly acceptable solutions to the long-term stadium issue. We also both understand and respect the NFL’s relocation process, and we intend to adhere strictly to the relocation procedures that the League has set forth for Los Angeles.”
The project would be financed with private funding and will move forward jointly with the economic coalition “Carson2gether.” On Friday, a news conference will bear the official announcement near the site.
The 168-acre area sits on a former landfill that has been the subject of recent cleanup efforts. The NFL has has been well aware of the valuable space, attempting to purchase it on at least three separate occasions, per The Times.
Both teams are dealing with significant barriers to get a stadium constructed on site at their current homes. In San Diego, mayor Kevin Faulconer has assembled a task force with the aim of putting together a viable proposal that all stakeholders can be happy with. The challenge there is that over nearly 14 years, seven mayors and nine proposals, the city hasn’t been able to put together a plan that satisfied all parties.
The Raiders have been working with the city of Oakland for over six years on their own proposal. With no public funding available, the possibilities in the East Bay are slim, at best.
The Los Angeles market is attractive to both teams because of its size and built-in fan base. The Raiders called Los Angeles home as recently as 1994 while the Chargers began their existence in the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1960.
The NFL will be involved in any relocation process, no matter what teams or locations are involved. The league expects any franchise wishing to move to make a considerable attempt to build in its own market. The addition of the latest plan coupled with St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke's move to build an 80,000-seat venue in nearby Inglewood is making the NFL's return to Los Angeles seem imminent:
Exec VP Eric Grubman on LA: "Two potentially viable projects pushing ahead increases the probability that something could get done." Huge.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 20, 2015 More from exec VP Eric Grubman on http://t.co/iLSuC0pR8d. Key point: "This is a potentially positive development with lots more work to do."
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 20, 2015 The pressure now mounts on both the cities of San Diego and Oakland to find a solution attractive enough to entice the teams to stay put. Wide speculation across the NFL is that a small-market team that moves to L.A. could see its value rise up to 150 percent.
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