By Ken Reed
Multi-billionairre Stan Kroenke, owner of the St. Louis Rams, says he plans to build an NFL stadium in Los Angeles on the site of the old Hollywood Park racetrack in Inglewood.
We’ll see.
Unofficially, 17 NFL teams have used the open Los Angeles market as a threat to secure a new stadium or extensive stadium upgrades in their current market. None of them have actually moved to LA.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and his owners like keeping the LA market open so league owners can milk local taxpayers for new or improved sports palaces.
“Since the Raiders and Rams left (Los Angeles) after the 1994 season, the threat of moving to Los Angeles has been used as leverage by NFL teams looking to get stadium deals done in their current cities, ” writes Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times. “In that sense, the region has been more valuable to the league without a team than with one.”
Exactly.
With the wealth these owners possess, along with the fast-growing value of NFL franchises, the days of taxpayers having to build stadiums for NFL teams should be over. Especially, when you consider what rough economic times have done to city budgets for schools, police, firefighters, etc.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
Books
