With it increasingly likely at least one NFL team is relocating to Los Angeles in the next two years, a possible temporary home for the team could be Dodger Stadium.
Though nothing’s been decided yet, Dodger Stadium is indeed in the mix for temporarily housing a team, as well as the Rose Bowl and the Los Angeles Coliseum. With the Oakland Raiders, St. Louis Rams and San Diego Chargers openly seeking a new home, observers say a Los Angeles NFL team is inevitable — in fact, owners received an update on the league’s LA plans last week — and the LA Times’ Sam Farmer says Dodger Stadium is in the mix:
An interesting wrinkle in the meandering NFL-to-LA odyssey: Dodger Stadium is in play as a potential temporary venue.
— Sam Farmer (@LATimesfarmer) October 7, 2014
Dodger Stadium is also in the mix for a permanent stadium: sources tell Farmer Chavez Ravine is also a potential site for a permanent stadium. That’s not a surprise: former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt had floated plans for an NFL stadium at Chavez Ravine when he owned the Dodgers and Dodger Stadium, and there’s certainly enough land surrounding the ballpark for an NFL stadium site.
But there are some other sites in the mix. St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke recently purchased land near Hollywood Park that could house his relocating franchise. Over the years AEG has pitched a site near Staples Center as either an NFL stadium or a new Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim home. It looks like the NFL would prefer to be in the city versus a faroff suburb: Ed Roski’s City of Industry site is reportedly not in the mix.
With four NFL teams available for a move, Los Angeles seems an inevitability for the NFL. Mark Davis has met with San Antonio officials about a move of the Oakland Raiders; the team’s lease is up at the end of the season, and while there’s been meetings with the A’s and Oakland about a new stadium at the current Coliseum site, nothing is close to completed. The Rams have an open lease in St. Louis, and the Charges can move after paying a relocation fee. The Jacksonville Jaguars can also be moved, but there’s talk of that team moving to London as the first international franchise in the NFL.