Los Angeles NFL conspiracy theory? Actually it's not even that much of a conspiracy, as it is blatantly obvious. The owners of crappy NFL teams (and even a few good ones) are threatening to move their teams to Los Angeles unless they get millions of dollars in stadium improvements, or in some cases entirely new stadiums. This has had the effect of scaring local politicians, who are now scurrying to satisfy the whims of greedy NFL owners.
Commissioner Roger Goodell has laid out a procedure for NFL teams to relocate to Los Angeles. It is going to happen, it's just a question of when.
Recently, Jerry Jones, the flamboyant owner of the Dallas Cowboys, indicated that not one but TWO teams may move to Los Angeles, setting off a flurry of speculation on which teams are interested. I do not think that Jones' remarks were casually or hastily spoken. Rather, it's more likely that this was a calculated move to allow current team owners to extract more money from local governments to upgrade football stadiums.
Jerry Jones says that TWO NFL teams may move to Los Angeles. He won't say which teams are interested. Photo: http://dallascowboysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/jones1.jpg
The St Louis Rams used to play in Los Angeles, and they have a deal which allows them to get out of their lease if they don't have a top dollar stadium. Well, guess what? They are demanding hundreds of millions of dollars from the good people of St. Louis, and if they don't get it they are threatening to return to Los Angeles. Frankly the Rams have been so bad in recent years that the fans might just let them go.
Other teams that have Los Angeles connections are the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers, both of whom have also played in Los Angeles. And yes, both of them have let it be known that they are interested in moving unless they get a sweetheart deal on upgraded stadiums in their current location.
Ditto the awful Jacksonville Jaguars, who are owned by an out-of-town owner with no significant connection to Jacksonville.
Even the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are dissatisfied with their current stadiums and are seeking millions of dollars to upgrade their current digs.
Commissioner Roger Goodell has laid out a procedure for NFL teams to relocate to Los Angeles. It is going to happen, it's just a question of when.
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| Commissioner Goodell has laid out the procedure for an NFL team to move to Los Angeles. photo: www.fanduel.com |
Recently, Jerry Jones, the flamboyant owner of the Dallas Cowboys, indicated that not one but TWO teams may move to Los Angeles, setting off a flurry of speculation on which teams are interested. I do not think that Jones' remarks were casually or hastily spoken. Rather, it's more likely that this was a calculated move to allow current team owners to extract more money from local governments to upgrade football stadiums.
Jerry Jones says that TWO NFL teams may move to Los Angeles. He won't say which teams are interested. Photo: http://dallascowboysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/jones1.jpg
The St Louis Rams used to play in Los Angeles, and they have a deal which allows them to get out of their lease if they don't have a top dollar stadium. Well, guess what? They are demanding hundreds of millions of dollars from the good people of St. Louis, and if they don't get it they are threatening to return to Los Angeles. Frankly the Rams have been so bad in recent years that the fans might just let them go.
Other teams that have Los Angeles connections are the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers, both of whom have also played in Los Angeles. And yes, both of them have let it be known that they are interested in moving unless they get a sweetheart deal on upgraded stadiums in their current location.
Ditto the awful Jacksonville Jaguars, who are owned by an out-of-town owner with no significant connection to Jacksonville.
Even the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are dissatisfied with their current stadiums and are seeking millions of dollars to upgrade their current digs.
All in all, Roger Goodell and Jerry Jones are likely going to bring upwards of a billion dollars worth of new stadiums and improvements to old ones. The threat of moving to Los Angeles is driving these upgrades. And then some team will move to Los Angeles anyway.
As a football fan, I am wary about owners in general. I believe Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, like all the other NFL owners, might have been approached by groups from Los Angeles offering hundreds of millions of dollars additional profit in order to get the team. The main difficulty would be to find a way to legally break the lease with the City of Cleveland which would have to happen in order to move+ the team.
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