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June 14, 2011
AEG short list for L.A. NFL relocation actually a long list
No sooner was it reported that AEG president Tim Leiweke had narrowed the list of teams targeted for a move to a new Los Angeles stadium to five than unnamed AEG officials declared that they're actually in touch with more than five teams:
AEG president Tim Leiweke told The Orange County Register on Thursday that his group has been in contact with the Rams, Raiders, Jaguars, Vikings and Chargers, to gage interest in attracting a team to Los Angeles.
An AEG source indicated on Friday that the group is actually in contact with more than the five teams cited by Leiweke. Those clubs are getting monthly briefings from AEG on the progress of the downtown project.
At a certain point, AEG's target list is just the entire NFL — especially when "getting monthly briefings from AEG" could just mean that the company is spamming owners' in-boxes with news about their stadium plans. (It doesn't help the story's credibility that it was reported by a site that can't spell the word "gauge.") Still, it'll no doubt get people freaking out in more cities than the original five now, which is no doubt why AEG rushed to leak the news after Leiweke left out teams like the Buffalo Bills in his original statement.
Well, Buffalo Bills can't be on LA's list -- they're already on Toronto's list. As soon as somebody builds a new $1 Billion stadium in downtown Toronto -- right beside the now inadequate publicly financed $500 million SkyDome -- Bills are outta there!
Unless, of course, the people of Buffalo rally together to save "their team" and build a magnificent new stadium first.
Are we all, collectively, really this stupid?
Posted by Sean on June 14, 2011 04:09 PM
Sean;
Since the total cost (not including borrowing) of the Skydome was likely over $700M.... I guess the answer would have to be a definitive yes...
Posted by John Bladen on June 14, 2011 04:18 PM
Skydome is uninhabitable for an NFL team for a number of reasons (have you seen their suite levels?). I think Buffalo is safe, anyway. Even if Toronto taxpayers went out and built a SotA stadium, I'd think that Jacksonville, Carolina or Minnesota would be better candidates to move.
Posted by Ben Miller on June 14, 2011 07:57 PM
PFT mentioned the Carolina Panthers as a dark-horse since the lease would be so easy to get out of. Other dark-horses in my mind would be the other Florida teams, Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers followed by the Tennessee Titans being the other of the Florida group.
If I had to put my money on it, the 49ers & Raiders will move into the Santa Clara Stadium and the Chargers & Rams will move to Farmers Field.
Posted by NFL in LA on June 15, 2011 01:40 AM
Lol, yeah, the Buccaneers! Good one. I doubt that will happen seeing that their new stadium is only 13 years old.
Posted by Wade on June 16, 2011 07:37 AM
Thirteen years old? How can they stand playing in that outdated rickety old dump any longer? That's almost as old as the Georgia Dome, which everyone knows is barely suitable for any use and must be replaced immediately.
Posted by Anderson on June 16, 2011 09:01 AM
Jacksonville has an ironclad lease through 2030. Miami is under new ownership. The Rams are not going anywhere as long as their owner is from St. Louis.
BTW, the stadium formerly known as SkyDome is called Rogers Centre.
Posted by Chucky on June 16, 2011 09:10 PM
"BTW, the stadium formerly known as SkyDome is called Rogers Centre."
A dumb idea to rename it Rogers Centre even though the company that owns the building and the Blue Jays is Rogers Communications Inc. SkyDome sounds so much better.
Posted by Daniel Francis on June 19, 2011 05:59 AM
Forget about the Bills going to Toronto. Once Ralph Wilson's estate puts the team up for sale, every city that wants an NFL team will go after them. It won't just be an automatic move to Toronto just because they play a couple of games there. Besides, no one in Toronto is going to plunk down $2 billion dollars ($1 billion for the team and another billion for the stadium)on a team that won't draw 50,000 a game. For that kind of money you can buy MLSE and be the king of the city. Toronto is not a pro football town, it is a hockey town.
Posted by Scott Walsh on August 15, 2011 05:42 PM