Hd — Let’s Face Reality
The clock is ticking on Los Angeles being awarded a pro football franchise and despite the best of intentions, it seems clear that the city is nowhere near the goal line.
For months, L.A. City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas has been tirelessly promoting the idea of overhauling the Coliseum and making it the franchise stadium. To his credit, he has gathered an impressive group of political and business leaders to sign off on the idea including a commitment by Kings owners Edward Roski Jr. and Philip Anschutz to invest $500 million to finance construction and purchase an NFL team.
But for all his efforts, it’s become clear that the NFL owners are, at best, reluctant to award a team to L.A. if the Coliseum goes along with it. Their reluctance is based on misguided perceptions about the area fueled largely by unruly types who attended the Raiders games a few years ago, as well as the prevailing suspicion, fair or not, that the USC neighborhood is not safe.
Is all this a bum rap for the Coliseum? We suspect it is. In fact, there are several pluses to the proposal, not the least of which is the price tag: With the stadium’s infrastructure already in place, the project would likely be cheaper than if developers were to start from scratch (as with the new downtown sports arena). How much is a matter of debate, but even a savings of $75 million or $100 million would be significant, especially if it were not financed entirely through private means.
In addition to the cost savings is the inherent symbolism of having L.A.’s marquee stadium right in the middle of the city within a short drive from downtown (though the “sports corridor” concept in which the major venues are somehow connected along Figueroa is someone’s misguided marketing idea).
But however one feels about the Coliseum site, its proponents can’t shake the lukewarm reception by the NFL. News reports continue to suggest an interest in developing the property adjacent to Dodger Stadium, and just last week, a top aide to Mayor Richard Riordan said the mayor was backing away from his unequivocal support for the Coliseum.
Publicly, Riordan said he is still pushing for the Coliseum and Ridley-Thomas insisted that nothing has changed. But time is not on the councilman’s side: The NFL is expected to award two new franchises as early as next March. Cleveland is likely to get one of the expansion teams and L.A. is in line to get the other but only if it has a stadium that’s acceptable to the owners.
And the Coliseum is a very hard sell perhaps an impossible one.
The question comes down to this: Do city officials continue on the Coliseum road, a road that could possibly lead nowhere, or do they consider other, more viable options for a stadium site?
The answer is obvious. Riordan’s role in this process is also obvious. It’s time to explore other avenues, especially the Dodger Stadium site and to make it clear to the NFL that the city is open to any and all possibilities.
Just so long as there’s football once again in Los Angeles.
