Yessssssssssssss, another plan to build a new NFL Stadium in Los Angeles Plan #57

Proposed NFL Stadium in City of Industry . . . Build it and a team will come? Stay tuned . . .

Yeah, yeah plans to build a new NFL stadium in 1) Irwindale 2) Dodger Stadium Parking 3) Angeles Stadium Parking Lot 3) Renovated Rose Bowl 4) Carson 5) Hollywood Park haven't gotten off the ground. The cost is getting to the point where unless a deal does get done, the NFL probably will never come back to LA.

But Ed Roski (SoCal billionaire who helped build the STAPLES CENTER and owns part of the NBA Lakers & NHL Kings) has offered a plan to build a stadium on land he owns in the City of Industry near the intersection of the 57 & 60 Freeways. This plan sounds doable on the surface since he already owns the land and the zoning rights. He would save money on building the stadium by building it inside a hill which is on the property (i.e. like Dodger Stadium is built inside a hill at Chavez Ravine) and redevelop the entire area into a mega retail/commercial/entertainment complex.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Yeah, yeah I know the league doesn't want to expand beyond 32 teams (its the perfect number now concerning scheduling), but I think this plan W-I-L-L get someone to nibble and make a deal. Maybe the Vikings won't be able to get a new stadium deal done next year (and MN politcos are really acting cool to the idea of spending $1 billion to build a new stadium), or the Bills owner Ralph Wilson dies and the team is put up for sale, or the Jaguars owner finally wakes up and realize that he will never make a lot of money in Jacksonville (he's already fretting how much the salary cap will go up once the Cowboys and Giants/Jets new stadium opens up over the next couple of years), or the Raiders Al Davis dies or he decides to move back to LA (he still maintains he owns the franchise rights to that market). I think someone will bite on this stadium plan and move to LA.

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SAM FARMER / ON THE NFL

Will L.A. wake up to Roski's NFL dream?

At a news conference Thursday, Ed Roski will unveil the latest concept for an L.A. stadium, build into a hillside in Industry.

Billionaire wants to bring a team back to the L.A. market, possibly by 2009.

April 17, 2008


Ed Roski has been to the bottom of the Atlantic in a Russian submarine to view the wreckage of the Titanic. He has ridden his mountain bike the entire length of the Burma Road. He has climbed to base camp at Mt. Everest and has paid his deposit to travel commercially into space.

But his latest undertaking is his wildest, most improbable yet.


He wants to bring the NFL back to Los Angeles.

At a news conference Thursday, Roski will unveil the latest concept for an L.A. stadium. It's a dazzling, asymmetrical venue built into a hillside in the City of Industry, near the southern intersection of the 57 and 60 freeways. His stadium would be the centerpiece of a high-end shopping and entertainment complex, already in the works.

Good luck, Ed, because the L.A. wreckage puts that Titanic mess to shame.

From Irwindale to Irvine, the Cornfield to Carson, Dodger Stadium to Hollywood Park, the Rose Bowl to the Coliseum, proposals ranging from ingenious to outlandish have fallen by the wayside.

Moving back to L.A. isn't among the NFL's top three priorities, and I'd be surprised if it were in the top five. Team owners don't want Commissioner Roger Goodell spending his time working on that conundrum when they're readying for a pitched battle with the players' union, can't figure out how best to share their billions in revenue, and have most of America channel surfing in vain for the NFL Network.

L.A. won't reappear on the NFL's radar screen until an owner stands up and says he can no longer get it done in his current city, and the prospects of staying are so bleak that his team can be more successful in Southern California -- even when saddled with the cost of a new stadium, an astronomical relocation fee, and heaven knows what else.

Yes, there are teams that are unhappy in their current situations, teams with less-favorable stadium deals than others, or whose hometown relationships have worn thin. Jacksonville, New Orleans, Minnesota and Oakland come to mind. Then, there's San Diego, where the Chargers are free to leave any time after this season -- without the threat of a lawsuit -- as long as they pay their $56-million tab for city bonds. That number drops into the $20-million range after two years.

The Chargers say they're focused on two stadium possibilities in Chula Vista, and it remains to be seen if either of those will pan out. Is it likely they will take a hard look at Roski's proposal? Yes.

But there's a big difference in taking a hard look and actually making a commitment to move. This process has had so many fits and starts, so many set-ups and letdowns, every new proposal starts sounding like a punch line.

Roski calls it "deal fatigue," and he concedes there's a lot of it -- among the NFL owners, executives, media and fans. Not another NFL proposal.

And remember, this is a terrible time to finance this type of deal. Two years ago, the league thought an L.A. stadium would be too expensive, and that was when the interest rates and banking relationships were far more favorable.

Now, the New York Giants and Jets, and Dallas Cowboys have to shell out substantially more money than they planned for their new stadiums, in part because of the implosion of the short-term debt market. Even the New England Patriots, one of the richest franchises in sports, have run into problems on the financial aspects of their stadium debt.

That's not to question Roski's platinum can-do credentials. He inherited a fortune in real estate and continued to build on it, now ranking 195th on Forbes magazine's list of 400 richest Americans, with an estimated worth of $2.3 billion. Without Roski and Philip Anschutz, there would be no Staples Center.

Roski says he can get started almost immediately on his NFL stadium, something that separates his concept from the dozens of failed ones that came before it. His environmental impact report is done. He doesn't have to worry about battling historic preservationists; he's dealing with a mound of dirt. He doesn't need the blessing of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa or to lobby members of the City Council. (He did encounter some political turbulence Wednesday when state lawmakers blocked an effort by Industry to grab millions of dollars in tax subsidies that could help lure an NFL team back to the area.)

The way Roski sees it, he could have shovels in the ground this fall and have a stadium ready to go for the 2011 season. By his thinking, a team could be in L.A. by the 2009 season and could play for two years in the Rose Bowl or Coliseum until its new digs are ready. He would want to own at least part of the team, but says he would be comfortable being a behind-the-scenes shareholder as he is with the Lakers and L.A. Kings.

Roski says he can build a football version of Staples Center for about $800 million, roughly half the price of the one being constructed for the Giants and Jets. He says he'll save a huge amount on steel, because half of his stadium rests on a hillside.

But it's not as if he's going to dip into his personal fortune to pay for this whole project. He wants help from the NFL in the form of a $150-million loan and the promise of at least one Super Bowl. The league has doled out that money for other stadiums, although it no longer has a G-3 loan program and would have to create a new one for L.A.

The NFL isn't in the business of giving without taking. Never has been. So what's unknown is what the other owners would want in exchange for that huge loan, the promise of one or more Super Bowls, and the rights to the nation's No. 2 market. This deal would come with ultra-strong cables -- not just strings -- attached.

In recent years, the NFL seems to have lost interest in coming back. Likewise, there's little groundswell from untold millions of football fans in Southern California, the ones who appreciate less traffic on Sundays and more NFL choices on TV.

If you build it, Ed, they will come.

But if you don't build it, will they care?



NFL LA Stadium Website

 

The can be called the LA 57ths...

then they'd be 8 point favorites over the 49ers

 

Why is it that only multi-millionaires and billionaires want NFL football in L.A.?

 

Don't tell me out of an area with 6 million residents, no one would go to an NFL game ? ? ? ? Look at the TV ratings, folks still watch it. It sucked that the 2 teams they had left at the same time because 1) The Raiders never could get the Coliseum renovated as originally promised and 2) Georgia Frontiere (a St. Louis native) wanted to leave Anaheim. Expers who say LA won't support the NFL are the same ones who said for over 33 years DC couldn't/wouldn't support MLB (which considering how bad the 'Nats have been in there short history, their attendance is about where it should be. Playing in the new ballpark will give them a short term boost and I think the new owners will eventually get them on the right track).

THE BOTTOM LINE: I know I'm in the minority on this board on this, but I think the NFL can work again in LA. The stadium plan is in place, we just have to wait now for a team to nibble on it. In order, I think the Jaguars will express the most interest followed by the Raiders, Vikings, & Bills (if Ralph Wilson dies). Remember, the NFL took in Jacksonville as a compromise because the vote was split between Baltimore & St. Louis, so they wouldn't lose a lot of sleep if the Jags headed to LA IMHO