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June 13, 2011
AEG outs five NFL teams as L.A. relocation targets
AEG president Tim Leiweke, not content to be dropping arbitrary deadlines for his company's downtown Los Angeles stadium plan, let loose another media salvo on Thursday by declaring that his boss, Philip Anschutz (the "A" in "AEG"), was prepared to buy an NFL team to move it to L.A. — and then naming names about which teams he was considering:
"St. Louis, Jacksonville, not extensively, certainly Oakland, San Diego, Minnesota are still in the mix," Leiweke said listing the teams AEG has met with before adding: "We're not packing any [moving] vans right now."
Now, "met with" doesn't necessarily mean the current team owners are actually considering AEG's offer (or that there's a solid offer to consider). Still, it was enough to set off media mayhem in the listed cities. A San Diego Chargers blog declared that "The Hit List Is Out"; Oakland Raiders CEO Amy Trask issued a statement denying that her team was for sale; and Minnesota Vikings execs insisted that their only meetings with AEG were over possibly operating the new stadium they want built in Minnesota.
Meanwhile, though the St. Louis Rams probably aren't for sale, ESPN noted this would give their owner welcome leverage in his own stadium campaign. And that's the main upshot here: For Leiweke to come out with a statement like this is a win-win for all the bigwigs involved — AEG gets a carrot to dangle alongside its July 31 deadline stick, and the owners of all the rumored move targets get a threat to use against their own localities, plus plausible deniability against being blamed for threatening a move.
And as for us? We get to play the home version. (Currently leading: The Jacksonville Jaguars, by a sizeable margin over "nobody" and then the Raiders.)
????
More stupid people.
How many times does Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver have to say that it will be a "cold day in hell" before he ever moves the team out of Jacksonville ?
Everyone with any brains knows that:
(1) Los Angeles doesn't deserve a team, as they never appreciated the teams they had, which is why those teams left.
(2) "IF" Los Angeles is to get a team, it will be Oakland (over 120 blacked-out games since 1995), or San Diego (almost as many as blacked-out games as Oakland).
(3) Since 1995, the Jaguars have blacked-out only 27 games.
(4) Last season, the Jaguars DID NOT BLACK-OUT A SINGLE GAME.
Posted by Robert on June 13, 2011 10:44 AM
If moving an NFL team to LA requires the AEG group to buy a team, then count the Raiders out. No way Al Davis sells his Raiders no matter the offer.
Posted by Dean on June 13, 2011 01:50 PM
Sure, Tim Leiweke of AEG is just stirring the pot. But there is a sweetener in the L.A. deal:
No way that the entire $700M Farmers Insurance naming rights goes completely, or even partly, toward stadium construction. Further, AEG made it clear to L.A.'s leaders that the company wouldn't be defraying any of the city's losses from demolishing part of the their Convention Center in order to build the fool stadium.
So, look for a big hunk of that naming rights pot to go directly into the pockets of the team that finally get persuaded both by AEG and by the NFL to relocate to Los Angeles.
I didn't think it was going to be the Raiders, either, but for different reasons: The Raiders aren't that good, aren't that profitable and aren't that big a draw in a major television market the NFL would dearly love to exploit. Betcha both AEG and the League want a bigger name with a better record for the money they're putting into this. Whatchathink?
(Here in the Bay Area, we had a "Battle of the Bay" blacked out several years ago because the Raiders couldn't even sell out in their own neighborhood. See Forbes Magazine's NFL team valuations - along with the 49ers, the Raiders are in the bottom six of NFL revenue producers.)
Rgds,
Bill Bailey, Treasurer,
SantaClaraPlaysFair.org
-=0=-
Bill,
This is good news for the Bay Area. I read in a recent report that AEG has also reached out to the 49ers. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that both the 49ers and the Raiders move to Los Angeles and free the Bay Area of the scourge of professional football. I personally hope the 49ers leave so the taxpayers of Santa Clara don't get scammed for their money.
Here come your five-time champion Los Angeles 49ers!
Posted by John on June 14, 2011 05:24 AM
John the 49ers were not on the list of teams that AEG had reached out to. And the Raiders rebuffed their offers. If anything it may indicate that the Raiders have something else in mind for the future, like finally joining the Niners at their planned Santa Clara Stadium. If anything this may make the Bay Area even more certain to keep their two teams.
Posted by Dan on June 14, 2011 12:24 PM
Not likely - the Term Sheet for the Santa Clara stadium is very clear: Jed York becomes Al Davis' landlord, because the 49ers hold the exclusive right of sublease to any second team. Neither Santa Clara nor any of its Agencies have any power over what the 49ers do - thanks to Measure J.
Having that second team in the stadium dilutes the 49ers' own marketing efforts in selling their own brand, too. I think you'll find that's exactly why the 49ers demanded exclusive control over the sublease.
The NFL is really going to have to back Al Davis up against the wall before he agrees to come to Santa Clara - and even then, the Yorks get to approve any such deal.
Let's see how badly these guys want that NFL contribution for a stadium. The League isn't going to contribute to two stadiums - not with the 49ers and the Raiders in the bottom six of revenue-producing franchises.
Rgds,
Bill Bailey, Treasurer,
SantaClaraPlaysFair.org
-=0=-
Ref.: Forbes Magazine NFL Team Valuations, 2010