LOS ANGELES - Farmers Field (72,000)

[ryebreadraz]

Originally Posted by pesto

I'm not a huge fan of a DT stadium but World Cup doesn't cut much either way. It's likely the main games would have been in NY and DC since LA got them last time. 20 other cities would have wanted games, so we are probably talking about 2 or 3 games at most, perhaps between medium quality teams (Korea, Mexico, Japan seem likely).

The stadium proposal lives or dies on football and conventions.

While I agree with you that not getting the World Cup has no bearing on the stadium, I do disagree with the notion that the stadium wouldn't have hosted "main games." Only three cities would have been fit to host the opening match or final and LA was one of them, DC was not. Had LA not hosted the opening match or final, they would have hosted a semifinal and likely a quarterfinal and round of 16 match too. That is in addition to group stage matches. Also, there is no way to know what teams would have played in LA like Korea, Mexico or anyone. It's decided by random draw and no teams are put in any city aside from the host.

Also, the US is now the heavy, heavy, heavy favorite to host the World Cup in 2026. With Europe and Asia unable to bid, it would take something magical for the US not to host in 2026 so that's still on the table for this stadium.

[pesto]

Hope that we get some primo matches in 2026. But it's just good marketing to put Mexico, Japan or Korea in this area, assuming they make it in. Ditto for European and East European teams in the NE or Great Lakes area.

I don't think anyone doubts that LA would get matches whether or not the DT stadium is there. LA is too big to ignore due to its size, fame and success with the World Cup in 1994 and has representatives on the US bidding team. Isn't the new stadium just going to steal matches from the Rose Bowl and maybe the Coliseum? Moving them a few miles south doesn't strike me as a good use for money or for AEG to focus their talents on.

And while we are on the subject, wouldn't the Rose Bowl get the matches over DT any way? It's bigger, has large-scale renovations underway, has a prior history of hosting a very successful World Cup, a name with world-wide recogniton, and a gorgeous, camera-friendly location.

Again, AEG should focus on football and coventions.

[Bobby3]

LA was going to host the final, it was always going to host the final.

In regards to soccer, LA is the alpha city in the US. The others don't even compare.

[ryebreadraz]

Originally Posted by pesto

Hope that we get some primo matches in 2026. But it's just good marketing to put Mexico, Japan or Korea in this area, assuming they make it in. Ditto for European and East European teams in the NE or Great Lakes area.

I don't think anyone doubts that LA would get matches whether or not the DT stadium is there. LA is too big to ignore due to its size, fame and success with the World Cup in 1994 and has representatives on the US bidding team. Isn't the new stadium just going to steal matches from the Rose Bowl and maybe the Coliseum? Moving them a few miles south doesn't strike me as a good use for money or for AEG to focus their talents on.

And while we are on the subject, wouldn't the Rose Bowl get the matches over DT any way? It's bigger, has large-scale renovations underway, has a prior history of hosting a very successful World Cup, a name with world-wide recogniton, and a gorgeous, camera-friendly location.

Again, AEG should focus on football and coventions.

Good marketing or not, they can't put teams in cities or stadiums. It's done by a completely random draw and they end up wherever they end up.

The Coliseum and Rose Bowl can't host World Cup matches. They were thrown into the bid to boost up the potential attendance figures and be a placeholder for LA in the bid, but they're both hundreds of millions of dollars away from meeting the requirements necessary to host a World Cup match. If AEG does build their stadium and the US gets to host a World Cup, I'd bet on the stadium hosting the Final. A downtown location, with easy access to the convention center for all the other events, close to hotels and entertainment makes it attractive. Toss in it being a retractable roof stadium so there are no concerns about hear and AEG have a ton of pull in the USSF and I think it would be be the favorite to host the Final.

[Franchise646]

Here is AEG's Tim Leiweke talking about the stadium and getting it done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxsoKvkoEqM

AEG Will Pay for Everything -- No Public Money for NFL Stadium
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yuk2KxfYWO0

Pitch for NFL Stadium in Downtown LA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmuWt..._order&list=UL

Little Parking Needed -- Public Transit Will Do the Job
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOhRn..._order&list=UL

Cutting the Deal with the City
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CT1s..._order&list=UL

Entrepreneurs Must Fill Leadership Vacuum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm3Y-..._order&list=UL

Downtown LA Is the Right Place for NFL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS6_7..._order&list=UL

Timeline for NFL Stadium by 2015
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_JtJ..._order&list=UL

Bigger, Better LA Convention Center
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNnJs..._order&list=UL

[duma187]

if this stadium ever gets built, i would hope the NFL brings in 2 teams and not just 1. We can handle 2 teams just like New York, and it would also help justify the costs of the stadium, along with conventions, final fours, occasional college games, etc.

[pesto]

2 would definitely help the economics. But Santa Clara was similarly talking about getting both the 49ers and Raiders (which it may still do) and polls showed that this hurt the number of voters that would support the stadium. The 49ers downplayed that part even though the EIR was drawn up on the assumption of two teams.

Could be a tricky issue.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

the NFL has said that it wants two teams in LA. LA will get one to start and another down the line.

[Gianny]

This is the Stadium I want next to Staples and LA Live....something similar, hopefully its the same sponsor.



I love how it changes colors.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTGyOANlgcw

[Franchise646]

Originally Posted by Gianny

This is the Stadium I want next to Staples and LA Live....something similar, hopefully its the same sponsor.



I love how it changes colors.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTGyOANlgcw

Yes that Stadium would be sick next to staples, but Allianz will have the same problem in LA the had in New York. Anyway AEG got 9 sets of designs on Friday they will pick one soon. I think it would have to be a cool looking stadium to be in LA.

[weava]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

the NFL has said that it wants two teams in LA. LA will get one to start and another down the line.

When has the NFL said it wants 2 teams there? LA has proven it can't support the NFL as 3 teams have left.... Chicago has a tiny stadium, Houston lost the Oilers, yet Green Bay sells out everygame,so just because LA has a large population doesn't translate into it being able to support a NFL team which is compleley opposite of baseball which really can only thrive in larger cities.

[Franchise646]

Originally Posted by weava

When has the NFL said it wants 2 teams there? LA has proven it can't support the NFL as 3 teams have left.... Chicago has a tiny stadium, Houston lost the Oilers, yet Green Bay sells out everygame,so just because LA has a large population doesn't translate into it being able to support a NFL team which is compleley opposite of baseball which really can only thrive in larger cities.

Actuality the main reason the Rams and the Raiders left was they wanted new stadiums. In Case of the Rams, Georgia Frontiere was Form St. Louis and when her husband died she was offered a new stadium and a whole hell of a lot of money. She was never popular in LA, even with the Fans showing up, so she picked up and move the team to her hometown. Al Davis got a place to build a Stadium but when the league said they want him to share the stadium with a new team, he flipped and moved the team back to Oakland, flipping off LA in the process. LA never stopped supporting there teams, that is a misnomer, they had to BAD owners which is why the League is trying to pick a good owner for that market. Look to hear more about the Chargers and the Vikings, and the Bills. AEG wouldn't want to do business with Al Davis, so unless he kicks the bucket soon don't expect to her about LA Raiders happening anytime soon.

[weava]

Originally Posted by Franchise646

. Look to here more about the Chargers and the Vikings, and the Bills. AEG wouldn't want to do business with Al Davis, so unless he kicks the bucket soon don't expect to her about LA Raiders happening anytime soon.

*hear?

The Bills and Vikings will NEVER be LA teams, maybe the chargers.

[Franchise646]

Originally Posted by weava

*hear?

The Bills and Vikings will NEVER be LA teams, maybe the chargers.

Yeah thanks for catching that I changed it.

I think they said that about the Lakers, Dodgers, and Clippers way back when lol.

[krudmonk]

I hope it's not a generic European bedpan design like Allianz and everything else over there.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by weava

When has the NFL said it wants 2 teams there? LA has proven it can't support the NFL as 3 teams have left.... Chicago has a tiny stadium, Houston lost the Oilers, yet Green Bay sells out everygame,so just because LA has a large population doesn't translate into it being able to support a NFL team which is compleley opposite of baseball which really can only thrive in larger cities.

The NFL has never left LA because of attendance issues. the Raiders were setting all kinds of records when they were here. The reasons the teams left were because of shitty ownership and stadium issues.

Also, there are numerous interviews that state the NFL's preference that there be two teams in LA. i think that the league even mandated that the industry stadium be designed with separate locker rooms for two home teams.

[Marckymarc]

Originally Posted by weava

When has the NFL said it wants 2 teams there? LA has proven it can't support the NFL as 3 teams have left.... Chicago has a tiny stadium, Houston lost the Oilers, yet Green Bay sells out everygame,so just because LA has a large population doesn't translate into it being able to support a NFL team which is compleley opposite of baseball which really can only thrive in larger cities.

Sorry, but that's baloney. The Yankees almost left New York in the early 1970s because of stadium issues. If they did I suppose you (or someone like you) would say, " New York has proven it can't support MLB as 3 teams have left".

Stadium issues and greedy, carpetbagging owners have virtually nothing to do the ability of a major US city's support of their local teams.

Put 2 NFL teams back in LA, with decent, loyal and competent ownership, playing in one or two world-class stadiums and they will thrive like you wouldn't believe.

[soup or man]

The Falcons almost left Atlanta until the Georgia Dome was built.

[Franchise646]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-...97,full.column

If Tim Leiweke does his job over the next year in laying the groundwork for a downtown events center, expect the Chargers to announce shortly after Feb. 1, 2012, they will be here to start the 2012 season, probably playing in the Coliseum.

Talk to anyone who has spent time with Chargers owner Dean Spanos — and Spanos already has a pretty good idea of the endgame. Ordinarily, that's a loss in the playoffs, but now it's all about moving to L.A.

The Chargers probably will announce soon they will not be exercising their Feb. 1-May 1 escape clause from their stadium lease next year because they really have nowhere to go.


San Diego's last shot, and probably its only chance to keep the Chargers, rests on a November 2012 ballot measure that probably will never materialize.

City officials and the Chargers would have to agree on the language for such a ballot measure sometime during 2011 and probably no later than early 2012.

If they could find common ground, such a measure authorizing the spending of public money on a new stadium would need strong political backing. Most observers believe politicians will not show such support, instead leaving it up to voters.

If local politicians don't line up strongly behind such a ballot measure, there would be little incentive for the Chargers to spend money on campaigning for such a losing measure.

San Diego has never really embraced the Spanos family, more affectionately known in this space as the Spanos Goofs. The Chargers have failed to sell out home games, leading to local TV blackouts, and management more often than not comes across as a dictatorship exhibiting poor judgment than as a community asset.

In the meantime, Leiweke has to get beyond all the yackety-yak to date.

His interest in an events center featuring a downtown stadium suggests he already has Philip Anschutz's approval to commit $1 billion to such a project. Or Leiweke has more money than anyone might think.

Leiweke will need to start schmoozing with Sacramento to make the environmental impact process easier, while at the same time working local politicians to avoid any roadblocks.

There are some who believe Leiweke has no choice but to make this happen, calling facets of L.A Live — such as condo sales — challenging. An AEG spokesman said all area businesses showed an increase this year and hotel occupancy has exceeded expectations.

All are in agreement, though, an events center would only maximize L.A. Live's effectiveness and lead to further development.

"The Microsoft convention this July will be the largest to date — 45,000 hotel-room nights total, and that would not have happened without building this hotel in L.A. Live," said an AEG spokesman. "An event center would provide for more convention space and more hotels built downtown."

Any time anyone mentions a new stadium around here, the uneducated become alarmed, figuring public money would be spent on such a playpen.

No public money was used in the building of Staples Center. It's true more than $70 million was committed to the area surrounding the arena, where L.A. Live now sits — $58 million in bonds currently being repaid. Another $12 million in redevelopment money was committed to the project.

When the bonds are paid in full, it's expected the interest paid will match or exceed the $70-million contribution, allowing AEG to say the city essentially paid nothing for the downtown facelift.

Leiweke has told folks in public gab fests no public money will be used on the events center. He's counting on Anschutz and a contribution from the NFL.

AEG will need $300 million in city bonds to tear down the West Hall of the Convention Center and then rebuild it in another Convention Center location. Since it is not AEG-owned property, it would have to be a city-financed project.

Leiweke has said if for some reason those bonds are not repaid, AEG will do so — once again the city losing nothing in public money spent on the project.

Leiweke has only talked to date, which is why it's on him now to take advantage of the Chargers' 2012 escape clause.

If he's on his game, the Chargers will be calling the Coliseum their temporary home — a return to their roots, having spent the first season of their existence playing there as the Los Angeles Chargers in 1960.

Leiweke's attention span, or lack of it, will be his biggest hurdle. It might help if he's constantly reminded he's playing with $1 billion of his boss' money.

I don't mind reminding him on behalf of Anschutz because it would make for great sport bringing the Spanos Goofs here. We'll need someone to replace the McCourts.

IN RETROSPECT, the brawl before the USC- UCLA game the other night was probably a decent dress rehearsal for the Oakland Raiders-Los Angeles Chargers game to be played here two years from now.

THERE WAS only one good reason to attend the Clippers' game Monday night —- the chance to bump into Sacramento broadcaster Bill Walton.

IN HIS USC-UCLA postgame comments, UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel offered this telling remark: "I'm sick about Kai [Forbath] not getting a chance to kick a field goal. He came up and said, 'I need one more.' How can I kick a field goal at the end of the game when you're down 21 points? Kai understood. He's a great Bruin."

Forbath needed one field goal to tie a school record, but make that a great selfish Bruin, who required an explanation from his coach before he understood the game wasn't all about him.

UCLA passed out printed copies of Neuheisel's postgame remarks, but did not include Forbath's comment, "I need one more," as quoted by Neuheisel.

Funny that Neuheisel needs to be censored and apparently Lane Kiffin does not.

[ExWNY'er]

There is a guy named Terry Pegula that has expressed interest in owning the Bills and Sabres. He is worth between 3-4 billion and he has strong ties to WNY, it is likely that the Bills will stay put. I don't think that there was ever much of a chance they would bolt but they will be out of the running for a move now. Seems like the Chargers are looking more likely to move to LA every day now.