The joint stadium project between the Chargers and Raiders in Carson, Calif., continues to gain momentum and there was strong positive buzz about their plan coming out owners meeting in San Francisco this week, according to several high-ranking ownership sources. Meanwhile, concerns linger as to whether Rams owner Stan Kroenke can force his way out of St. Louis without a protracted fight.
Chargers owner Dean Spanos, among the league's more respected owners, has exhibited great patience in navigating his franchise through an uncertain stadium situation in San Diego and continued to earn kudos from other ownership groups at the meeting. The NFL intent to be in Los Angeles by 2016 cannot be understated and several sources maintained they would have to consider the Chargers/Raiders project in Carson as the early favorite.
There is a certain political element to this process, in securing necessary votes for franchise relocation -- in this case a dual relocation -- and Spanos has moved expertly, sources said. And Raiders owners Mark Davis is a highly-motivated wingman willing to let Spanos take the lead when required. The Raiders are mostly willing to do what the league wants, and go along for the ride to Southern California and plentiful revenue streams that come from a new facility. The willingness to collaborate with the Chargers, their longtime rivals, speaks to the potential potency of this project and it continues to curry favor with other important owners at a critical.
Meanwhile, Kroenke has shown willingness to go rogue and faces more of an uphill climb with his Inglewood project, at least in lining up support from owners on the powerful stadium and finance committees, sources said. With his full-speed-ahead approach regarding LA, he's seen as more of an outsider than Spanos and has rubbed the league office the wrong way. So all things being equal, people very close to some of the NFL's most respected ownership groups believe the Carson project has the best chance of winning this race.
That's not to say Kroenke will go easily, and this scenario could be a precursor to an ugly legal fight. The NFL could well deem St. Louis has a formidable ongoing stadium project and the Chargers and Raiders are in greater need of a new immediate home. But with Kroenke procuring the land and a finance deal on his own, and his St. Louis lease up again at the end of the season, he just might -- ironically -- take a page from Al Davis' book and go to court to fight for his right to party every Sunday in Los Angeles rather than stay in St. Louis, where he clearly has no plans of staying.
Don't discount for an instant Kroenke’s desire to get to California, but he's failed to curry favor the same way others have and the NFL will flex its muscles to maintain control of the process. Telling any uber-successful magnate what he can or can't do with his business and land is always a good way to prompt a significant response, and that's just what we might get in this case.
As for the Chargers and Raiders, if they merely stay in course, things could be lining up their way. It's clear the municipalities around Carson are on board. Certainly a hurdle or two could come their way -- AEG will try to obfuscate the process, I’m sure -- and there could be environmental issues down the road (there often are, especially in California) but this thing is coming to a head by the winter and the support behind this project is strengthening at the league's highest reaches.
Could well be the Chargers and Raiders both move in 2016. It would take two game-day facilities to do so -- sources at The Rose Bowl have continued to tell me they cannot support two teams at the same time -- and it could be both teams would use their current training facilities for practices for the first season in LA. Some in the know have speculated the Chargers, in exchange for getting the keys to LA, end up moving to the NFC, with perhaps the Cardinals going to the AFC West, which would maintain the Raiders' rivalries with the Chiefs and Broncos, for as much as that is worth.
Bottom line is if it gets to that stage, the issue of realignment would be no hindrance. There are plenty of parties more than motivated to shuffle around their current division to complete this complicated deal, and the right people continue to have a positive enough view of the Carson solution to make me believe that's likely where this thing is headed, barring unforeseen roadblocks forming. And all that could well lead to a lot of very rich lawyers getting even richer should Kroenke take the nuclear route to getting what he wants.
New PAT fallout: The early sense I'm getting is the change in PAT rules will not greatly shift the way coaches approach the extra point. Kickers are still ridiculous accurate these days from the 33- to 35-yard range and coaches go by the book for the most part.
It may take more drastic moves -- like narrowing the uprights -- to truly alter coaching philosophy. I will be interested to see if some aggressive coaches like Chip Kelly end up pushing for two-point conversions early and often, forcing opponents to open up and do the same through the course of a game.
Overall, however, the state of kicking is better than ever and moving the line of scrimmage to the 15 might not have much drastic impact to how the game is played.
