AEG’s
plan to bring a stadium to downtown Los
Angeles is dead according to Yahoo Sports author Jason Cole. One of the
biggest problems with the deal is the economics behind it. The cost would be at least 1.8 billion. This amount causes a problem for both AEG and
whichever team ends up relocating to Los Angeles. Another problem with this plan is that NFL told the owners that no team would
be moving to Los Angeles for the 2013 season.
AEG and Los Angeles need to find a new location for a stadium quickly or they will continue to delay bringing the NFL back to LA. Most of the other proposed locations involve building the stadium near an already constructed stadium in Los Angeles. These locations would be next to either the Staples Center or Dodgers Stadium. There has been talk to put the stadium in Carson where the Home Depot Center is currently located. Finally ideas of making the Rose Bowl or Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum more modernized have been thrown around.
All of this will be in vain until a team wants to
move to Los Angeles. Many teams have
been mentioned to move to LA. I asked
SMT students Ryan Cuttler, Alan Liang, and Travis Sheehan what team they believe should move there and why
they feel this way. Here is what they
had to say:
Ryan believes that the Jacksonville Jaguars would make the most sense to move. “I believe that the Jaguars overall need a
change to try and get away from the terrible years they have had.” He said that the team has basically tried to
rebrand themselves with a new owner, new coach, and new logo. Even with these changes they still have very
poor attendance. “If they could get a
new city with a fresh start I think it could really help the team, even if they
leave the name, Jaguars, behind.
Alan agrees with Ryan on the fact that the best team
to move would be the Jaguars. “Not only
do they not have a lot of talent but they are consistently at the bottom for
attendance.” He also believes that out
of all the Florida based NFL teams that Jacksonville has the smallest market. “The Jaguars had a big opportunity to create
a bigger market with drafting a local guy in Tim Tebow. This might not have caused them to win more
but it still would have created the buzz the Jaguars need.” Since there is no buzz they might as well
move to a new city to hopefully get some new fans.
Travis disagreed with both Alan and Ryan and thinks
the Carolina Panthers would be the
best team to move. “They wanted to
update their stadium through public funding and the tax payers voted no on the
idea. Now they are left with an outdated
stadium that needs over a 100 million dollars in renovations.” Moving the team to LA would allow them to get
the new stadium they are looking for and start fresh with a young team.
In my personal opinion, I believe the best team to
move would be the Oakland Raiders. Oakland has not made the playoffs since
2002. Over the past decade, they have
done nothing to make themselves into a successful franchise. The move would only be about five hours from
where they are now so the diehard fans can still watch the games. Also after the 2013 season, Oakland’s lease
with O.co Coliseum expires so they will be looking for a place to play. All of these reasons would make moving to LA
the change the Raiders are looking for to make them a successful franchise
again.
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Connect with Greg Monforte
on LinkedIn.
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