The pigskin has remained silent in Los Angeles long enough. Time has come for it to be centered and thrown across white hash marks here once again. It would be great for many in our city to embrace an NFL football team. Long-sidelined fans could adopt and root for another new L.A. team, sporting a new name with colorful logos. Economically, it would be a big boost for the city center should a state-of-the-art stadium be built there as suggested. Small and big-time businesses that cater to local football crowds could thrive. Bars, restaurants, hotels, and even corner T-shirt and peanut vendors would have new revenue streams to fish.
Yes, pro football is needed in our city – the second largest in the country. It’s needed by fans and businesses alike. New jobs would be created in Los Angeles, which are so desperately needed now by Angelenos.
The last pro football game in Los Angeles was held Dec. 24, 1994, when the Los Angeles Raiders last appeared at the famed Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Significantly, the L.A. area has hosted seven Super Bowl contests. The first-ever Super Bowl was played Jan. 15, 1967, at the Coliseum between Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Football fans should all know who won that game. Six additional Super Bowls were contested here through the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s. The last one held locally was at the Rose Bowl, when Troy Aikman and the Dallas Cowboys smashed the Buffalo Bills 52-17 on Jan. 31, 1993. That’s a shade more than 18 years ago to this year’s Super Bowl kickoff Feb. 6 in Dallas. Yes, Angelenos have waited long enough between kicks, passes and touchdowns.
Not so Super
Los Angeles sports some of the best weather in the
country and probably the world. Our city has dazzling nightlife, fine restaurants, hotels, beaches and world attractions. Yet, no Super Bowl contested here since ’93 and no National Football League regular season game since 1994. Super Bowls have been played indoors in winter in Atlanta, New Orleans and Detroit since our last title game here about two decades ago.
It’s time to put L.A. football back on the map for fans and businesses. It’s time for the pigskin to cross the white hash marks. It’s time for NFL football in Los Angeles. And it’s time for another Super Bowl to be contested here on a 70 degree sunny day, outdoors and downtown.
Ted Lux has been involved in real estate lending in the Los Angeles area for more than 20 years. He is author of the investment book “Exposing the Wheel Spin on Wall Street.” He lives in Playa del Rey.
