How is it possible that the second largest city on the North American continent does not have a professional football team? They used to have one, or even two.
How in the world did the Rams end up in St. Louis and the Raiders in Oakland? What went wrong?
But wait, it came out recently that Stan Kroenke, the billionaire owner of the Rams, has purchased a 60 acre tract of land in Inglewood, California… not Missouri… which just happens to be located between the Hollywood Park Racetrack and the Los Angeles Forum. What can that mean?
Kroenke is reported to be worth over $5 Billion (with a B!), so, he could buy 60 acres anywhere he chose to do so. But why that particular piece of land? Is St. Louis going to be looking for another NFL franchise for their city in the not too distant future?
As it turns out, the City of St. Louis has just refused a request from Kroenke to do some rather drastic upgrades, $700 Million worth! on the 13 year old Edward Jones Dome which, could not have pleased Mr. Kroenke too much. Add to that the fact that Kroenke’s lease on the Dome expires at the end of the 2014 season…
While no actual plans have been announced, speculation abounds on the subject. It could well be that the LA property was purchased from WalMart as part of a completely different business venture, it could be.
Los Angeles is the 2nd largest market in America but has not had its own NFL team since 1994 after having established a long traditional of professional football in the city.
Now Roger Goodell and the NFL are talking about more games being played in England at Wembley Stadium and even the possibility of placing an NFL team, like the Jaguars, to be permanently based in Great Britain.
What all this means for LA still remains to be seen. Los Angeles already has the plans for two major sports stadiums on the table and neither of them has received anything like final approval so far.
60 acres is a big site for an NFL stadium project. The new Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, which will be the new home of the San Francisco 49ers, only occupies 40. But there are precedents. Cowboy’s Stadium in Arlington covers 73 acres and the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey sits on a 75 acre plot.
Keep an eye on this one sports fans. It could get very interesting!
