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

[Kenny Claxton]

Imagine the parity with 2 more expansion teams. If you thought the
level of play was bad this past season (below mediocre teams), just
wait.

Kenny

On 5/3/06, Victor Waldron <victor19 at gmail.com> wrote:
> (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.
>
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--
"He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot but don't let that
fool you. He really is an idiot."

 Groucho Marx