Three teams that formerly played in Los Angeles — the St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers — each submitted applications today to move to the Los Angeles area beginning with the 2016 season, the NFL announced tonight.
Each team submitted the appropriate documentation in support of its application as required by the NFL Policy and Procedures for Proposed Franchise Relocations, according to the league.
The applications will be reviewed this week by league staff and three league committees that will meet in New York on Wednesday and Thursday — the Los Angeles Opportunities, Stadium, and Finance committees.
The applications will be presented for consideration at the league meeting in Houston Jan. 12-13. The relocation of a franchise requires the affirmative vote of three-quarters of the NFL clubs, 24 of 32.
The Chargers and Raiders have proposed a joint stadium in Carson, while Rams owner Stan Kroenke is proposing a stadium for his team at the former Hollywood Park racetrack location in Inglewood.
“There is no certainty on anything,” Chargers Chairman of the Board Dean Spanos said in a three-minute, 44-second video posted on the team’s website.
“As I sit here, this is a very fluid situation. You read all this stuff in the paper and everybody is tallying votes, but nobody knows anything for sure. But as we’ve said all along, whatever the decision of the owners is, we will abide by.”
According to Spanos, his fellow owners could approve either the Carson or Inglewood sites “and it could be that neither site is approved.”
At most, two teams will be allowed to move to Los Angeles and only one stadium be built.
The Los Angeles area has not had an NFL team since 1994. Following conclusion of that season, the then-Anaheim Stadium-based Rams moved to St. Louis and the Raiders returned to Oakland after calling the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum home from 1982-94.
The Chargers played at the Coliseum during their inaugural 1960 season as a member of the American Football League.
Spanos called filing for relocation, “probably the single most difficult decision that I have ever made, and our family has ever made, in business.”
“It’s been 14 years that we’ve been working very hard to try and get something done here,” Spanos said, referring to efforts to build a new stadium to replace Qualcomm Stadium, the team’s home since 1967. “We’ve had nine different proposals that we’ve made, and all of them were basically rejected by the city.”
Spanos said Kroenke’s proposal to build a stadium in Inglewood was “the catalyst” in the Chargers seeking to move.
“This was a move to protect our business more than anything,” Spanos said.
“Over 25 percent of our business comes from Riverside County, Orange County and the Los Angeles County area. Another team or teams going in there would have a huge impact on that.”
