Bow Your Heads Children, Now Let Us All Pray

Coliseum might see big changes for NFL team

The historic venue is one of two possible homes for a Los Angeles football franchise.
Alexis Hawkins
Issue date: 4/11/06 Section: News
PrintEmail Article Tools Page 1 of 2 next > In past weeks the NFL and the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission have been deliberating over the long-standing idea of housing an NFL team in the Coliseum.

"With the collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Player Association concluded, we are now turning our attention to selecting a stadium site in the Los Angeles area," said Brian McCarthy, director of communications for the NFL.

McCarthy said that the NFL has narrowed its decision down to two locations: a renovated Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and a new facility in Anaheim, adjacent to where the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim play.

The benefits of utilizing the Coliseum are centered on its proximity to the city and the entertainment industry, said Billy Witz, a columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News.

Alternatively, the potential of the Orange County location remains attractive on account of a growing affluent community and an advantageous land deal that would include 50 acres with ample room for surrounding development, Witz said.

Witz has been following the developments of an NFL team moving to Los Angeles and has attended several NFL conferences where both Los Angeles and Orange County were represented.

Despite such deliberation, "it looks like the NFL is very serious for the 2010-2011 season," said Bernard Parks, city councilman on the Coliseum Commission.

Parks recently met directly with NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to negotiate an NFL team playing at the Coliseum and discuss how the city would adapt to accommodate a pro team, the Los Angeles Times reported March 31.

McCarthy said he believes that NFL club owners could make a decision at a meeting scheduled in mid-May.

"The decision is all in the NFL's hands … it's between the Coliseum, the pro teams and the politicians," said Don Winston, senior associate athletic director.

Winston said USC has no role in the decision to have an NFL team in the Coliseum.

The Coliseum is owned by a commission of nine board members, composed equally of representatives from Los Angeles, Los Angeles County and the state of California. The commission was created under the Joint Exercise of Powers Act in 1945.
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According to the Coliseum's Web site, no taxpayer funds are used to support the Coliseum or the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. They are, instead, supported solely by revenue generated from the two facilities.

In the event of an NFL team moving into the Coliseum, considerable renovations would be necessary to prepare the stadium, a move that would cost several million dollars, Parks said.

Robert Harris, professor emeritus at the USC School of Architecture, said he feels that the renovation of the Coliseum is a two-sided coin.

"There have been construction schemes developed to preserve defining features like the east end arcade tower and exterior peristyle … but the scheme calls for the significant altering of the whole interior to produce steeper seating for better views and to install press boxes," Harris said.

Harris also said the renovation would call for a significant cleaning of the grounds around the Coliseum as well.

"As we have communicated to the university, the renovation would preclude the USC football team from playing in the stadium during the construction phase," McCarthy said.

Beyond the disruption of this renovation period, USC football would also have to co-exist with a pro team.

"If the owners select the L.A. Coliseum, we would work closely with USC on the scheduling of NFL games … we would expect to avoid playing on successive days," McCarthy said.

The Coliseum is no stranger to hosting NFL teams. Aside from accommodating Super Bowls I and VII, the Rams played in the Coliseum from 1946-1979, while the former Los Angeles Raiders were also housed there from 1982 through the 1994 season.

Parks, a USC alumnus, completely supports a decision to bring an NFL team back to the Coliseum.

"As an alumnus I'm excited to be a representative for the area of the college … I think this would be a major economic boost to the community," Parks said.

Jim Moore, a graduate student studying economics, said that having another influx of fans for Sunday games would be great for the local businesses.

In contrast, Grethel Solis, a junior majoring in psychology, said "the city of Los Angeles does not need an NFL team … USC has enough traffic and the money the city would have to put out is too much. That money should be spent on the city, not the greedy NFL owners and players."

Parks, however, said that the NFL would attract minimal traffic congestion because the Coliseum is off the beaten path.

As the situation stands now, specifics have not been determined. A team will not be decided until a stadium is selected, and then the NFL's attention will be turned to either creating an expansion team or relocating a franchise, McCarthy said.

While the Coliseum has been subjected to several renovations since its completion in 1923, "removing the concrete changes our memory of being there," Harris said.

Nevertheless Harris also said that "throughout human history, whatever we build we tend to remodel … cultures have always remodeled the places they inherit."