Two division rivals could be sharing a stadium soon. According to the Los Angeles Times, the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders are in the beginning stages of a plan that would result in the two teams sharing a $1.7 billion stadium in Carson, Calif. 

The Chargers want to stay in San Diego and the Raiders want to stay in Oakland, but if the two teams can't get a deal done in their respective cities by the end of the year, they're going to move forward with plans to move to LA. 

The teams released a combined statement on Thursday night. 

"We are pursuing this stadium option in Carson for one straightforward reason: If we cannot find a permanent solution in our home markets, we have no alternative but to preserve other options to guarantee the future economic viability of our franchises," the statement said. 

The proposed stadium would be built on a 168-acre site in Carson on land that's already been purchased by the Raiders and Chargers. The tentative plan calls for the stadium to be privately financed. 

A local coalition known as "Carson2gether" plans to announce the stadium project in a news conference on Friday, according to the Times.

By holding the news conference so early, the coalition's hope is that they can get a petition drive together so that local voters can approve the stadium project. 

This is what a Chargers and Raiders stadium might look like. (Manica Architecture via LA Times)
This is what a Chargers and Raiders stadium might look like. (Manica Architecture via LA Times)

Raiders owner Mark Davis has made it clear time and again that the Raiders would move if they couldn't get a deal done in Oakland. In February 2014, Davis said Oakland was on its "last chance" to keep the Raiders. 

The Raiders agreed to a one-year deal in January to remain in Oakland through the 2015 season, but after that, the team is free to move. 

As for the Chargers, they made it clear this week that they weren't going to rule out a move to LA if the city of San Diego couldn't help with a new stadium. The Chargers have been trying to get a new stadium deal done in San Diego since as far back as 2002, according to the Los Angeles Times

Chargers special counsel Mark Fabiani, who has been handling stadium talks with the city, told the city's stadium task force on Monday that the team would be keeping a close eye on LA, especially with the Rams hoping to also move there

"We are keeping a close eye on the developments in LA" Fabiani told San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer's stadium advisory group in a letter written this week. "We do not have a choice but to also monitor and evaluate our options there. Simply put, it would be irresponsible for the Chargers not to be taking every possible step to protect the future of the franchise."

Faulconer seemed to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation, "At no point in San Diego’s history has the possibility of the Chargers moving to Los Angeles been more real," Faulconer said this week. 

Both the Chargers and Raiders have previously been located in Los Angeles. The Chargers played their inaugural season there in 1960, before moving to San Diego. The Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994, before moving back to Oakland before the 1995 season.  

The Raiders and Chargers would be equal partners in the new stadium, which was probably a nice selling point for Davis, who had no interest in sharing a stadium with the 49ers. Davis didn't want to be a "second tenant" at Levi's Stadium. 

If the move does happen, there's a chance the NFL would ask one of the teams to switch conferences. The Jets and the Giants are the only two teams in the NFL who currently share a stadium and they play in different conferences. A report in October from Bleacher Report's Jason Cole said that Mark Davis told the NFL his team would move to the NFC West if they were allowed to move to LA. 

Anyway, you can see a promo of what the new stadium might look like below.