The St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers all filed for relocation Monday, the first possible date teams were able to do so. NFL ownership will vote Jan. 12-13 to determine which team or teams, if any, will be relocating to Los Angeles beginning with the 2016 season.
Rams, Raiders and Chargers file for relocation to Los Angeles
As expected, the three franchises tied to relocation have filed for potential moves to Los Angeles, pending a vote among NFL ownership on Jan. 12-13.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
News broke Tuesday evening beginning with the Chargers, who released a statement saying they were “sad to have reached this point,” but had no solution to their “stadium problem” and would file for relocation. The Raiders and Rams followed suit. The Rams released only a brief statement confirming the news, as did the Raiders.
The NFL released a statement about all three franchises:
Three teams - the Oakland Raiders, St. Louis Rams, and San Diego Chargers - each submitted applications to our office today to relocate their franchises to the Los Angeles area beginning with the 2016 season. Each team submitted the appropriate documentation in support of its application as required by the NFL Policy and Procedures for Proposed Franchise Relocations.
The applications will be reviewed this week by league staff and three league committees that will meet in New York on Wednesday and Thursday -- the Los Angeles Opportunities, Stadium, and Finance committees. The applications will be presented for consideration at next week’s league meeting in Houston on Tuesday and Wednesday. The relocation of a franchise requires the affirmative vote of three-quarters of the NFL clubs (24 of 32).
There has been no NFL franchise in Los Angeles since 1995 when the Raiders left for Oakland. The Rams left Los Angeles the year prior for largely the same reason as the Raiders -- both franchises struggled with dwindling attendance while also having issues on the field.
During the intervening two decades, several teams have seemingly contemplated moving to Los Angeles to take advantage of what ought to be a lucrative market. No proposal reached the fever pitch of this past offseason, however, when all three franchises backed projects in the great Los Angeles area. Rams owner Stan Kroenke bought land for a new stadium in Inglewood. In response the Chargers and Raiders pushed a plan for a joint project in Carson.
Just how many teams can move to Los Angeles remains to be seen. Three seems unlikely, but the same can be said for the possibility of all three teams staying put. Kroenke’s project often appeared to be further along and he has said he is willing to share the space. Any team that relocates will have to pay a $550 million relocation fee to the NFL.
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