The NFL is closer to knowing which teams are moving to LA - but a lot is still up in the air
The NFL's stadium, finance, and L.A. committees will meet on Wednesday and Thursday in New York City to discuss the two proposals.
The first, led by Ram's owner Stan Kroenke, features a $1.86-billion stadium in Inglewood that would be the focal point of a 298-acre entertainment, housing development, and entertainment site located on a former Hollywood Park race track. The other, co-led by the Chargers and Raiders, is a $1.7-billion venue to be built on a 157-acre plot located on an remediated landfill in Carson.
Kroenke's proposal, obtained by the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, firmly lays out why St. Louis isn't fit to host an NFL team and why the Inglewood plan outmatches the Carson bid.
A large part of this centers around the stadium itself, which would be the biggest in the NFL. From the LA imes:
The venue would be capable of hosting two teams with 70,240 fixed seats and accommodate another 30,000 people in standing-room-only areas for large events. There would be 274 suites, 16,300 premium seats and 12,675 dedicated surface parking spaces - all numbers the Rams say exceed those in the Carson proposal.
The proposal argues that the Inglewood's stadium would become the NFL's west coast hub, fit to host the Super Bowl, the Draft Combine, and the Pro Bowl to go with other non-football uses like concerts and prizefights.
Question marks linger over both proposals. The Inglewood proposal hinges on negotiations with the Federal Aviation Administration due to FAA worry that the proposed stadium could interfere with airport radar nearby at LAX.
The Carson proposal - the lesser developed of the two plans - is presently backlogged by California's Department of Toxic Substance Control, which is overseeing landfill remediation on the proposed site. There is some optimism surrounding the Carson proposal, though, as Disney CEO Bob Iger publicly backed it in November.
The more pressing concern right now is the fact that the two proposals will take owners' votes away from each another. Next week, NFL owners will convene in Houston specifically with the hopes of resolving the L.A. impasse, but as the LA Times noted, there may be no resolution until as late as March.
One possible solution is that the Rams and Chargers will partner in order to block the Raiders, as there is no solution for all three teams relocating to L.A. The Rams remain committed to being the sole owners their stadium, and while they may agree to partner with the Chargers, the Chargers are likely uninterested in becoming tenants in Inglewood.
The cities of both St. Louis and San Diego have also unveiled proposals for new stadiums that would allow the teams to stay put.
San Diego has proposed a new $1.1 billion venue on the same site as the current Qualcomm Stadium, but as the LA Times noted, the public contribution to this project would hinge on a June vote.
The Rams' leaked application, meanwhile, shows that Kroenke is thoroughly unsatisfied with St. Louis' $1.1-billion riverfront proposal. As Deadspin noted, an entire head of the proposal is titled 'St. Louis Is Not A Three Professional Team Market."