History of National Football League in Los Angeles

The National Football League had different professional American football teams in Los Angeles, California between 1946 through 1994. Los Angeles is the second-largest media market in the United States. All the teams originally played in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

In 1946, the Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference started play, lasting four years before folding with the demise of the AAFC. Also in 1946, the Cleveland Rams became the first National Football League (NFL) franchise to locate in Los Angeles. The Rams moved to Anaheim Stadium for 1980, and left southern California altogether in 1994 for St. Louis. The AFL founded the Los Angeles Chargers in 1960 but moved to San Diego the next year. The Oakland Raiders moved to Los Angeles in 1982, only to return to Oakland after the 1994 season.McDonald, Jerry - Raiders' exodus ... no crying in SoCal. Oakland Tribune, Jun 23, 2005] There were problems with the filling all of the 90,000-plus seats in the Coliseum to avoid a television blackout in the Los Angeles area.

The lack of an NFL team in Los Angeles is an issue the league and the city have been working on to resolve since the Raiders left. [http://www.nfl.com/news/story;?id=09000d5d807cf396 Roski plans to unveil plan to get a franchise for Los Angeles] . Associated Press, April 18, 2008] One key sticking point had been whether the Coliseum should be the primary venue for a new team, or whether a lower capacity NFL-specific stadium should be built in the area. In November 2007, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa declared that the policy of requiring the NFL to relocate to the Coliseum will change and other options will be explored. [David Wharton and Sam Farmer - [http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/usc/la-sp-rose29nov29,0,1000492.story Mayor benches NFL plan, wants Trojans in Coliseum] . November 29, 2007. Los Angeles Times. Quote: With USC threatening to move its home games to Pasadena's Rose Bowl, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called for a long-term deal to keep the Trojans in the Memorial Coliseum, saying for the first time he has given up hope of the National Football League returning to the aging stadium. "While I remain committed to bringing a professional team to Los Angeles, it is time to read the scoreboard," Villaraigosa said in a statement Wednesday. "The Coliseum is no longer a viable option for the NFL."]

There have been other professional football teams in the city, including PCPFL teams during World War II, XFL, USFL, and WFL.

The early years

The first NFL team to name itself after the city of Los Angeles was the Los Angeles Buccaneers in 1926. However, this team never played in Los Angeles; it was a road team made up of Californians, primarily University of California and University of Southern California alumni.

The NFL All Star game and Pro Bowl

The NFL did play its first league All-Star Games (which later became known as the Pro Bowl) in Los Angeles. L.A.'s Wrigley Field hosted the first All-Star Game after the 1938 season. Gilmore Stadium in Los Angeles hosted the 1939 and 1940 All-Star Games following the respective NFL seasons.

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was the site of the Pro Bowl from 1950 through 1972. The 1979 Pro Bowl was also held at the Coliseum. In 1980, the Pro Bowl moved to Aloha Stadium on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.

NFL Franchises in Los Angeles 1946-1994

The Rams

Los Angeles first received live NFL action in 1946, when Cleveland Rams owner Dan Reeves, against the wishes of all other NFL owners [ [http://www.footballresearch.com/articles/frpage.cfm?topic=reeves DAN REEVES MOVES WEST] The Coffin Corner Volume XX, 1998. Courtesy of The Pro Football Hall of Fame] , moved west, playing home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. That same season, the Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference also fielded a team.

Rams move to Anaheim

By 1979 Rams ownership was unable to build a new stadium in Los Angeles and decided to move to Anaheim (28 miles southeast of downtown L.A.) which was then experiencing an enormous boom in population and construction. They played in Anaheim Stadium which already had a football press box built into the upper deck when it opened in 1966. [ [http://www.anaheimcolony.com/images/stadium2222.jpgPicture of Anaheim Stadium] ] Further renovations included enclosing the facility by extending the stadium's three decks and building luxury suites in the mezzanine "club" level.

Three teams had previously played home games there prior to the Rams' expansion: the Southern California Sun of the World Football League and the now-defunct football programs at Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State.

Rams move to St. Louis

Rams owner Georgia Frontiere began to shop around for a new home for her team, which was falling behind other NFL teams in luxury-box and other non-shared revenue. By the end of the 1994 season, talks had begun with St. Louis and Baltimore; meanwhile, she was hoping that Anaheim, whose county, Orange was going through an economic recession, would also give her an attractive offer. Anaheim simply would not agree on a tax package to pay for the improvements that Frontiere insisted on, so that city dropped out. Eventually, St. Louis gave Frontiere the offer she wanted, a new $280 million domed stadium that was then called the Trans World Dome (now called the Edward Jones Dome) with a long-term lease and over 100 luxury boxes. The move was announced in February 1995 and approved by NFL owners that April.

The Raiders

The Coliseum next received an NFL team in 1982, when the Oakland Raiders moved to Los Angeles; owner Al Davis moved there even without the approval of his fellow owners. Officials with the Rams have expressed that, had the Rams elected to stay in Los Angeles, the Raiders would have likely been the franchise to move to Anaheim.Fact|date=February 2007

The Raiders continued their success they had in Oakland after the move south, winning Super Bowl XVIII in January 1984 and reaching the AFC Championship Game after the 1990 season. The team also made history in 1989, hiring Art Shell as head coach; Shell was the first African American coach in the NFL since Fritz Pollard in the 1920s. But the team gained a controversial reputation off the field, as the colors silver and black became associated with L.A.'s notorious street gangs. More importantly, the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission never gave Davis a lucrative package of amenities he had been promised, including scores of luxury boxes. Davis entertained an offer from Irwindale, California (east of downtown L.A.) in 1987, but did not move there. ["SPORTS PEOPLE; Ruling on Irwindale" New York Times. September 29, 1987] ["OBITURARY: Bill Robertson" Los Angeles Times. December 10 2005 "But an achievement he considered one of the proudest of his career was his role as chief negotiator in the $6.7-million deal in 1980 to bring the Raiders football team from Oakland to the Los Angeles Coliseum. He stepped in again later to persuade Raiders owner Al Davis to stay on and helped forge a public and private agreement to renovate the aging Coliseum.

When the promised stadium reconfiguration bogged down, Davis announced in 1987 that he would move the Raiders to Irwindale. They returned to Oakland for the 1995 season. Robertson resigned from the Coliseum Commission, blaming the team's defection on what he called the "blind leadership" of his successor as commission president, Alexander Haagen.]

Raiders return to Oakland

As for the Raiders, Al Davis traded away the chance to have the gigantic market to himself for a new stadium renovation offer from Oakland, due in no small part to the decision by the Los Angeles Sports Commission to halt planned renovations to Memorial Coliseum due to repair costs generated by the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. The renovation expanded the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum to 63,000 seats and added 86 luxury boxes and thousands of club seats. The deal was announced on June 23, 1995 and approved by league owners on August 9. The team played in a smaller stadium in the 1995 season until the renovations were ready in 1996. (As a sidelight, the other major-league team at the Coliseum, the Oakland Athletics, played their first home series of 1996 at Cashman Field in Las Vegas, Nevada, due to construction delays.)

AFL franchise in Los Angeles

The Chargers

In 1960, the American Football League (AFL) was formed. The now-San Diego Chargers played their first season in Los Angeles, but moved to San Diego in 1961. There is a significant possibility the Chargers might move back to L.A. in time for the 2011 season, to play at Los Angeles Stadium, which would be built in City of Industry.

The Super Bowl in and around Los Angeles

The first Super Bowl, known as the AFL-NFL World Championship Game, and later Super Bowl I was played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1967, following the AFL-NFL merger. The Coliseum also hosted Super Bowl VII.

The Rose Bowl in Pasadena also has hosted Super Bowls XI, XIV, XVII, XXI, and XXVII.

ince 1995: Major developments

Within months of the moves of the Rams and Raiders, several NFL teams were rumored to be replacements. They included the Cleveland Browns, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Seattle Seahawks. However, the Browns moved to become the Baltimore Ravens in 1996 and a new Browns team occupied a new stadium in 1999. The Bengals, Buccaneers and Seahawks, meanwhile, used L.A.'s vacancy as leverage to convince their cities to help finance new stadiums.

Other developments have included:
* In 1996, Los Angeles Dodgers owner Peter O'Malley offered land near Dodger Stadium for a new football stadium.Fact|date=February 2007 However, O'Malley was persuaded to drop the proposal in 1997 in favor of supporting the Coliseum plan.
* In March 1996, Seattle Seahawks owner Ken Behring quietly moved office equipment and some athletic gear to the elementary school in Anaheim that once held Rams practices, hoping to get approval for a permanent move to southern California. [Nightengale, Bob - Without Disney, Angels could become X-rated. (sale of California Angels to Walt Disney Co in jeopardy). Sporting News, March 25, 1996] Because of an owners' revolt, Behring halted the process and moved the equipment back to Seattle. Eventually, Paul Allen bought the team and kept it in Seattle by building Seahawks Stadium, now known as Qwest Field.
* Perhaps the closest Los Angeles has come to regaining the NFL was in 1999, when the NFL approved a new franchise, the league's 32nd, for Los Angeles, on the condition that the city and NFL agree on a stadium site and stadium financing.Fact|date=February 2007 Those agreements were never reached, and in October 1999, the franchise was awarded to a Houston ownership group instead, which formed the Houston Texans.
* In 2001, a proposal was floated for a new stadium near Staples Center. The stadium and team would have been owned by billionaire Phillip Anschutz and Hollywood scion Casey Wasserman, and the stadium would have been built with private funding. That died down quickly when it failed to get the support of the city council. In particular, Mark Ridley-Thomas, whose district includes the Coliseum, never supported it.
* In 2004, reports circulated that Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay visited Southern California, presumably for meetings with local officials on moving his team to Los Angeles. Irsay never confirmed nor denied those reports, and the Colts later reached a deal for a new stadium in Indianapolis.
* As recently as 2005, current Dodgers owner Frank McCourt showed interest in a similar plan to Peter O'Malley's in which a new NFL stadium would be built in Chavez Ravine next to Dodger Stadium. However, like O'Malley, McCourt was accosted by city officials who expressed their displeasure with his idea in mere part to their favoritism of the repeatedly defunct Coliseum plan. McCourt merely states that his idea is suitable if the most recent Coliseum plan were to fail. In addition, the NFL is also rumored to favor the Dodger Stadium proposal to the countless Coliseum ideas in the past. [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/default.aspx/id/10635496/from/RL.2 Dodgers, NFL reportedly discuss stadium deal] NBC Sports, December 29, 2005]
* On November 7, 2006, voters in an upper class part of Pasadena overwhelmingly rejected a financing package that would have allocated money for a renovation of the Rose Bowl that would have accommodated an NFL team in fear of greatly increased traffic. The vote was 72 percent against, versus 28 percent in support. [ [http://www.latimes.com/sports/football/nfl/la-sp-nflcol10nov10,1,7065539.column?coll=la-headlines-sports Los Angeles Times] . Los Angeles Times, November 10, 2006] Two days later, the San Francisco 49ers broke off talks with the city of San Francisco on a new stadium at Candlestick Point and began negotiations with suburban Santa Clara, where they hope to build a new stadium to open by 2012. However, many details remained unresolved, and at least one person quoted in an article in the "Los Angeles Times" said that L.A. could still be a possibility for the 49ers. [ [http://www.latimes.com/sports/football/nfl/la-sp-niners10nov10,1,1616866.story?coll=la-headlines-sports Los Angeles Times] . Los Angeles Times, November 10, 2006] . But the following day, the 49ers reopened talks with San Francisco under pressure from United States Senator Dianne Feinstein and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (both San Franciscans, the latter also being Member of Congress for most of the city of San Francisco).
* In April 2008, Developer Edward P. Roski Jr., a part owner of the Kings and Lakers, has proposed a stadium in the City of Industry. [Seifert, Kevin - Los Angeles developer seeks team for stadium. Real estate billionaire Ed Roski hopes to entice a team with stadium issues, such as the Vikings, to move in by 2011. Star Tribune, April 17, 2008] [Farmer, Sam - NFL in L.A. gets a new blueprint. Roski unveiling his plan for a stadium in the City of Industry, but is the league interested? Los Angeles Times, April 17, 2008]
* In May 2008, Mike Silver of Yahoo Sports claimed that the St. Louis Rams are for sale for $850-900 million, and will be bought by Eddie DeBartolo, who will move the team back to Los Angeles in 2012. Silver also stated in his article that Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver intends to sell his team, as well.
* In June 2008 reports surfaced that The City of Industry could become the home of the 49ers or Raiders by as early as 2010 when both team's stadium leases expire. Other teams mentioned include San Diego, Minnesota, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Buffalo, and St. Louis. [ [http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/52492 Niners, Raiders to move to Los Angeles?] June 2, 2008]

Repercussions

Neither the Rams nor Raiders sold out many games while playing in the L.A. area, where they were expected to sell 90,000 tickets a game for Rams and Raiders teams at the Coliseum. Those games were blacked out in accord with the NFL's "72-hour rule." The Raiders have since struggled to sell out games in Oakland while the Rams were able to get a deal to return to owner Georgia Frontiere's hometown of St. Louis where they were guaranteed sellout revenues. The Raiders owner Al Davis has since grown frustrated with Oakland city officials for allegedly duping them into packing their bags in 1994 and has sued the city multiple times.Fact|date=June 2007 He also claims that the NFL had interfered with his negotiations to build a new stadium in Hollywood Park and subsequently forced the Raiders to take Oakland's offer in a lawsuit that was just recently settled in favor of the league.Fact|date=June 2007 Davis still states that the rights to the L.A. market belong to him and has tried to interfere with attempts to put a new team there by lamenting his desire to still play there and that if he does not that he should be compensated for the fee the league charged him when he moved there.Fact|date=June 2007 Joe McDonnell, a long-time voice on local radio, laments often that local children cannot see a "home team" play, nor can they use the players as role models and unofficial community leaders. Fact|date=February 2007

In a September 1995 article in the "Los Angeles Times", a parking-lot attendant claimed to have lost thousands of dollars per weekend because the Raiders no longer played in the Coliseum.Fact|date=June 2007 Such businesses in the area would not partially recover until Staples Center was built in 1999.Fact|date=February 2007

Los Angeles as a bargaining chip

Cynics also claim that the National Football League teams do not truly want an NFL franchise in Los Angeles, as it would remove the threat of actually moving an existing team to Los Angeles, a major bargaining chip in negotiations for new stadiums,Fact|date=September 2008 which are otherwise unpalatable due to the cost of such stadiums often exceeding the values of the franchises themselves. Los Angeles is, by far, the most viable candidate for relocation.

Proposed stadiums

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has championed a new football stadium in Anaheim in tandem with a new L.A. Coliseum. There are reports, however, that NFL owners will not approve a return to the L.A. area until two teams commit to play in a single new stadium (similar to the New York Giants and New York Jets in Giants Stadium). [John Clayton - [http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2455792 New commish likely by fall; L.A. search to take longer] ESPN.com May 24, 2006.] Due to worldwide increases in the prices of steel, concrete and fuel some cost estimates for new stadiums have exceeded $1 billion. [ [http://dailynews.com/sports/ci_4545516 Daily News (content missing)] . Los Angeles Daily News] As a result, it will be difficult for the league to privately finance one stadium, let alone two. [ [http://www.startribune.com/507/story/453601.html Sid Hartman (content missing)] . Minneapolis Star Tribune] In response to rising cost estimates for a new stadium, new NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has said that returning the NFL to Los Angeles will require the league to consider unspecified "alternative solutions." [ [http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/15842392.htm San Jose Mercury News (content missing)] . San Jose Mercury News] Some observers, however, dispute the $1 billion figure.

Other than Los Angeles, the NFL has returned to every city it vacated in the modern era (Oakland, Baltimore, St. Louis, Cleveland and Houston). The 2008 NFL season will be L.A.'s fourteenth year with no franchise, thus eclipsing Oakland for the longest duration in the modern era that a former NFL city has lacked a franchise.

Coliseum renovation

A renovated Coliseum would seat 65,000 for most major events, expanding to about 80,000 for Super Bowls and University of Southern California home games. The Coliseum would retain the peristyle section and columns that are part of the current stadium, in a design similar to Soldier Field in Chicago. This stadium is supported by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Los Angeles City Council approved a preliminary financing plan and environmental impact report in 2006. But the Exposition Park area still carries safety concerns among some fans.

In October 2006, a new doubt was cast over the Coliseum's future as a possible venue, as reports surfaced that the Coliseum Commission was negotiating to hand over control of the stadium to USC, which could preclude any plans to renovate the stadium for the NFL. ["Los Angeles Times", Oct. 10, 2006, page D1] Sam Farmer, [http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-coliseum6jun06,1,28769.column Coliseum panel mulls options] , "Los Angeles Times", June 6, 2007.] Pat Lynch, the Coliseum's general manager, claimed in a panel discussion in December 2006 that the true cost of a new Coliseum would be closer to $650 million. [Jon Regardie. [http://www.ladowntownnews.com/articles/2006/12/11/news/news03.txt A Trip Down Ugly Memory Lane] . Los Angeles Downtown News. December 11, 2006] In December 2007, talks between USC and the Coliseum Commission broke down and the Trojans made public their threat to leave. In February 2008 the Coliseum Commission and the Trojans came to a tentative agreement that would keep USC football in place for the next 25 years with an option for a total of 47 years. The agreement would require the Commission to pay for upgrades including replacement of the seats, field, drainage system, and the fence around the stadium. In addition to the basic improvements the deal would see upgrades to the sound and lighting systems, new elevators and escalators, new videoboards and scoreboards, new restrooms and concession areas. In return, the Trojans will agree to pay the equivalent of 8% of all gross ticket sales for home games and 50% of all game day expenses that the stadium incurs. In addition, USC will pay the Commission 8% of all revenue from television broadcasts from games where fewer than 70,000 people are in attendance. The deal also includes a right of consent for the Trojans for any amateur or professional team seeking permission to play in the Coliseum. The Commission and the Trojans will cooperate to find a naming-rights sponsor for the Coliseum. USC will also receive a seat on the Coliseum Commission for as long as the school remains at the stadium.

Anaheim stadium site

A stadium site in Anaheim has been proposed on and off over the last decade. The latest plan is for a 60,000-to-70,000-seat stadium located adjacent to the Rams' old home, Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Those stadiums, as well as the Honda Center (formerly Arrowhead Pond), apartments, shops, and restaurants, would be part of a "Platinum Triangle" development.

Carson site

A 70,000-seat stadium was proposed for Carson, on a site bordered by Interstates 110 and 405. The stadium and team would have been owned by Hollywood executive Michael Ovitz. But the site is full of toxins and other environmental problems, and eventually for that reason, as well as a failure of Carson to approve a financing plan, it was abandoned. The latest plans are to build [http://ci.carson.ca.us/content/department/dev_service/marketplace.asp Avalon at South Bay] , a mixed-use development which will include homes, apartments, a 200-room hotel, and a retail power center. Construction is contingent on an extensive cleanup of the site, which is to be concluded by the end of spring 2008. Developers hope to open at least part of the site in 2010. Carson does have a sports complex, The Home Depot Center, on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Dodger Stadium site

The Dodger Stadium parking lot has been discussed by NFL owners, in private, as possibly being the best site in Southern California to build a new professional football stadium. Officials with the Dodgers and the NFL met in secret twice in 2005 to discuss the possibility of constructing a stadium and retail complex adjacent to Dodger Stadium. After the Boston Herald reported the details of the plan, political pressure forced both the NFL and McCourts to deny that either party was aggressively pursuing the idea. [ [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/la-sp-nflcol8dec08,1,3780699.column?coll=la-headlines-sports-columnists] Los Angeles Times]

City of Industry

However, Edward P. Roski, a part-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Kings, has announced plans for a new stadium on the northern side of the interchange of State Routes 57 and 60 (almost convert|30|mi|km east of downtown LA) with the purpose of attracting a team to the Los Angeles region. Roski, who built the Staples Center, stated that the new 75,000 seat stadium would be privately financed and would be the centerpiece of a new entertainment complex in City of Industry. [ [http://www.ocbj.com/article.asp?aID=67194824.355694.1635556.3329846.930837.985&aID2=125803 Orange County Business Journal Online] ] [ [http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/blog/chandra-sharma/ca-will-benefit-overall-roski-and-nfl-move-toward-la-stadium-deal CA will benefit overall as Roski and NFL move toward LA Stadium deal, Fox & Hounds daily] ]

Pro football activity in L.A. since 1995

* The Los Angeles Avengers have been a member of the Arena Football League since 2000. The team has had a steady run as one of the league's best teams, but had never won a playoff game until 2007. The owner of the team is Casey Wasserman.
* The Los Angeles Xtreme won the only championship in the brief history of the XFL, in 2001.
* The NFL has maintained a limited presence in the market. NFL Network, the in-house cable and satellite network founded in 2003, is headquartered in nearby Culver City and players often visit its studio, especially in the offseason.
* The NFL Players Association's "Rookie Premiere," in which first-year athletes pose for trading card pictures, is held annually at the Coliseum. The Coliseum also staged part of the league's opening-weekend celebrations in 2005.

ee also

* Sports in Los Angeles
* Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
* Rose Bowl (stadium)
* Super Bowl
* Pro Bowl
* St. Louis Rams
* Oakland Raiders
* National Football League in Toronto

References

External links

* [http://www.losangelesfootballstadium.com/ New Los Angeles stadium proposal site]