The NFL’s eagerness to move back to the Los Angeles market has prompted the league to consider temporary housing for a relocating team, or teams, before the construction of a new stadium, USA Today reports.
The Oakland Raiders, St. Louis Rams, and San Diego Chargers, all former Los Angels teams, consider moves to the City of Angels amid stadium grievances in their current markets. A move could happen as early as the 2016 season but it remains to be seen which of the three candidates actually seek relocation and which of the three use talk of a move to catalyze stadium concessions from government officials in their existing markets. Of the three, the Raiders appear as the likeliest candidate for a new home.
“If a team relocates, it would want to move into a temporary home in the Los Angeles market immediately while a new permanent stadium is being built,” Brent Schrotenboer writes. “That’s because any team that decides to relocate would become a lame duck in its current market and instead would want to start building its fan base in Los Angeles as soon as possible.”
The Rose Bowl and the Los Angeles Coliseum remain the two most viable options, although the Pasadena stadium could only host one NFL team because of legal restrictions. Either stadium, both built in the 1920s, would immediately become the NFL’s oldest. Either stadium, holding over 90,000 seats, would also immediately become among the largest venues in the NFL. Dallas Cowboys home AT&T Stadium drew more than 105,000 fans to a game in 2009, which set the league attendance record.
The return to the Los Angeles Coliseum as an NFL venue would prove especially ironic. The Raiders moved back to the Oakland Coliseum, citing stadium issues when they initially left there, from the Los Angeles Coliseum because of owner Al Davis’ unhappiness with the antiquated structure.
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