A meeting of a committee of the Los Angeles City Council on Thursday left the city hopeful that plans for a downtown NFL stadium could move forward.
Los Angeles NFL Stadium Plan Moves Closer To Fruition At Meeting
AEG, which controls a number of sports venues, including L.A.‘s STAPLES Center, is asking for the city to agree to a “memorandum of understanding” before the end of July. The two sides aren’t ready to strike an official deal, but a memorandum would allow the project to continue to develop until they do. It doesn’t appear that AEG will have trouble getting the city council committee to agree to such a memorandum:
It doesn’t appear it will be difficult to get a simple majority, considering the enthusiasm with which most council members spoke about Farmers Field and the expansion of the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Meanwhile, Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times says that AEG won't start the project in earnest until it knows which team it's getting, which means that the 2012 NFL season could feature a Los Angeles-based team. The Jacksonville Jaguars or San Diego Chargers could be the one making the move.
Plaschke argues that L.A. is missing out on “the NFL experience,” which makes sense. Yes, Southern California is full of people who grew up elsewhere, and thus root for teams from outside the area. But by having an NFL team, Los Angeles gets to participate in a major part of American culture in a way it currently doesn’t.
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