The San Francisco 49ers want a new stadium. They're not sure which Bay Area city will pony up to build one for them -- of if any Bay Area city will do so at all. And that means the 49ers could be looking at moving south, all the way to Los Angeles.
Bill Soliday of Inside Bay Area writes:
Will the 49ers be that NFL team that agrees to move into the $800 million Southern California stadium? It sounds farfetched to me, but the NFL clearly wants to at least leave open the possibility that teams who can't get public financing for their stadiums could find a home in Los Angeles. I don't think the 49ers are moving to Los Angeles, but I do think they want the leverage they get from local governments believing it's a possibility.the City of Industry, on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County (population 777 in 2000), could be Plan D for the 49ers, perhaps for the Raiders when their lease expires in 2010 - or for any NFL team wanting to move into the second-largest population center of the United States.
While Northern California lurches forward without decisive results, Ed Roski has boldly moved forward independently to bring pro football back to Los Angeles.
In April, Roski, a billionaire builder, unveiled plans for a privately funded stadium to be built in the City of Industry, 25 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. All he asks before breaking ground is for a current NFL team to agree to move into his $800 million baby.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-01-2008 @ 1:44PM
MSW said...
The best course of action is for the 49ers and Raiders to build a joint stadium somewhere on the South East Bay area. The Giants and Jets are very different fan bases, but they've found a way to share the current Giants Stadium and their new home currently under construction. New advances in electronics can make either team and fan base feel like they are "at home", and who knows what an outfit like ILM could do if given the task.
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6-01-2008 @ 6:39PM
CJ said...
I really hope 49ers dont leave, im so use to them being in San Fran, although i cant blame them for wanting a better stadium than Candlestick park. Im not reading too much into this though, because ive also heard of Minnesota, San Diego, and St Louis are considerations for Los Angeles as well as New Orleans a couple years ago, but nothing has panned out, so i dont buy much into this.
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6-05-2008 @ 4:52PM
John McGlumphy said...
With NFL teams moving from city to city these days, anything is possible. Ever since Georgia Frontiere moved the Rams to St. Louis in the 1990's and Al Davis moved the Raiders back to Oakland not long afterward, Los Angeles has not had an NFL team. The nearest team to L.A. is in San Diego, so I'm sure L.A. would welcome any NFL franchise looking to relocate.
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