[CBFF] ESPN: Schwarzenegger hopes to get two NFL teams for L.A.

[Victor Waldron]

(Interesting story. Thing is, the NFL has grown considerably even
without a team in LA. Having a team there would be good but I hope
it's not via expansion. 32 teams are enough.)

Schwarzenegger hopes to get two NFL teams for L.A.
Associated Press

GRAPEVINE, Texas -- Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn't want one NFL team in
Los Angeles. He wants two.

The California governor will probably have to be satisfied with half
of his wish -- at least in the near future.

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and a committee of 11 owners heard
presentations Tuesday from officials representing Los Angeles, Anaheim
and Pasadena, three cities that want a club. The area has been without
an NFL franchise for more than a decade.

Schwarzenegger went first. After meeting with the owners, the
actor-turned-politician emerged to say he was there to make sure
"we're getting not only one NFL team to the Los Angeles area, Southern
California, but to actually get two teams. That's why I came. Why
limit it?"

New York Giants chairman Steve Tisch, a longtime Los Angeles resident
who is on the committee, said that was highly unlikely.

"I'd be shocked if the suggestion internally to recommend two teams
ever comes up. I think the numbers are too big. I think it would be an
overwhelming suggestion," Tisch said.

Added Tagliabue: "One team is our immediate goal. Long-term, I think
two is a realistic goal."

The 11 owners spent six hours listening to California politicians and
deemed it a significant step in getting the NFL back to nation's
second-largest television market. Tagliabue has made that a priority
since both the Rams and Raiders left after the 1994 season.

"The fact that we're here and doing what we're doing is better than
anything I could say," Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "This is
the strongest effort I've seen on the league's part."

Los Angeles plans to construct a stadium within the shell of the
existing Los Angeles Coliseum. Anaheim is offering a 53-acre tract of
land for the stadium and economic development. Pasadena, considered a
long shot, provided an update on the Rose Bowl.

"Everybody came away feeling it was some of the best time they've
spent on NFL business in recent months," Tagliabue said. "For our
owners to get this type of firsthand dialogue and a firsthand
opportunity to speak to the political leadership of these communities
and the governor gives us a lot [of information] to digest."

The owners' committee, which includes Dan Rooney of the Pittsburgh
Steelers and Bob Kraft of the New England Patriots, didn't have an
opportunity after the presentations Tuesday to talk alone as a group.
They planned a conference call next week.

The committee will meet again at the NFL spring meetings in Denver May
22 and make a presentation to the rest of the owners the following
day. It is unclear whether they will be able to make a recommendation
at that point.

"I think there's a possibility. I don't know if there's a real
possibility," Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen said.

"I'm not going to rush," said Tagliabue, who has announced he will
retire this summer. "I've also emphasized that this is the year for us
to make some decisions up or down. We're not going to keep moving
sideways."

The estimates for $800 million for the stadium projects, which the NFL
is expected to finance, are considerably higher than previous price
tags.

When the NFL expanded in 2002, the new team went to Houston after Los
Angeles leaders couldn't agree on a suitable site for the team.

Los Angeles officials showed conceptual artist renderings of the plans
for the Coliseum, host of the 1932 and 1984 Olympics and home to the
Rams from 1946-70 and the Raiders from 1982-94.

The 67,000-seat reconstruction includes 15,000 club seats, 500 luxury
boxes and state-of-the-art amenities. Los Angeles mayor Antonio
Villaraigosa said the City Council has already agreed to allow for up
to $25 million in local tax revenues generated by a stadium renovation
to be earmarked for redevelopment projects around the Coliseum.

"It's a deal they can't refuse," Villaraigosa said. "Los Angeles makes
the absolute best sense."

Anaheim's plan calls for a new facility near Angel Stadium, which was
converted to a baseball-only complex. The Rams and the Los Angeles
Angels once shared that stadium.

Beside a new stadium, Anaheim mayor Curt Pringle said his city's
proposed site includes room for more than 750,000 square feet of
commercial and office development, a 500-unit hotel and residential
areas. Plus, the land in Orange County would be owned by the new NFL
franchise.