Don’t look now but it has been 20 years since the people in Los Angeles had a professional football team to call their own. After the 1994 National Football League season ended both the Rams and Raiders left Tinseltown. The Rams departed for St. Louis, Missouri while the Raiders went back to Oakland, California. At first it seemed as if someone was playing a practical joke, but the years have gone by and we don’t appear to be any closer to having an NFL team in Los Angeles.
In 1995 the original Cleveland Browns packed up and moved to Baltimore, Maryland where they became the Ravens. In 1996 the Houston Oilers departed Texas to move to Tennessee where they became the Titans. There was an uproar from the fan bases in both Cleveland and Houston as they were each demanding another NFL franchise. By 2002 both cities were awarded NFL expansion teams. The new Cleveland Browns took the field in 1999 while the Houston Texans began play in 2002.
Though faint there has been an uproar from the fans in Los Angeles for another NFL team, but they could once again be passed by; this time by London, England?
Over the years the NFL played exhibition games in Europe. From 1991-2007 the NFL experimented with American Football in Europe. At first it was called the World League of American Football before it was changed to NFL Europe. Eventually NFL Europe became a developmental league for the NFL where teams on this side of the Atlantic could allocate players to Europe to get some much needed seasoning during the spring league in the hopes of making an NFL roster that summer. By 2007 the league had folded, but that same year the NFL began its London Series where a regular season game featuring NFL teams would be played in London at Wembley Stadium.
At first it was just one game per season, but now the NFL has several games each season that are being played on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Each game at Wembley Stadium has produced a capacity crowd in spite of the fact that most people in the crowd are not cheering for a specific team. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has thrown around the idea of a London based team which is something that should be taken very seriously.
Fans in Los Angeles have always had a reputation for being “fair weather sailors”. The Los Angeles Lakers have won 16 NBA Championships which is second in league history. But throughout their tenure in Southern California, the Lakers have always seen their fan base arrive late to their home games. The same can be said for the Los Angeles Dodgers where fans will arrive late and leave early at Dodger Stadium.
After moving from Cleveland, Ohio, the Rams called Southern California home from 1946-1994. From 1946-1979 the Rams played their home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. From 1973-1978 the Rams won six consecutive NFC West Championships, but they were always stymied in the NFC Playoffs by the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings which hurt them with local fans who always expected the Rams to come up short. In 1979, the Rams once again were able to win the NFC West and they made their first Super Bowl appearance in the process. It wasn’t enough to save the Rams as they moved to nearby Anaheim in 1980.
By the early 1990’s former Rams owner Georgia Frontiere wanted a new stadium in Southern California which she never received and by 1995 it was the end-game for the Rams in Los Angeles.
After a contentious fight with the NFL, former Raiders owner Al Davis moved his team from Oakland to L.A. in 1982. While in Los Angeles, the Raiders played at the L.A. Coliseum as Davis was looking to get a brand new stadium in nearby Hollywood Park. When the Raiders first came to Los Angeles it was a match made in heaven as they won the Super Bowl in 1983. By the end of the decade the Raiders play had declined and so did their attendance. Davis’ deal for a new stadium never came to fruition and by 1995 the Raiders were back in Oakland.
Los Angeles is the second largest media market in America, but the nation’s most popular professional is not played there.
Since the Raiders and Rams left Southern California, the NFL has placed teams in smaller market such as Jacksonville, Florida and Charlotte, North Carolina (albeit those deals were on the table when the Raiders and Rams were still in Southern California). The owners of professional teams will tend to pit one city against another in the hopes to get the best deal (tax breaks and a free stadium) for themselves. The city of Los Angeles is willing to build a new stadium for a potential NFL team, but they may have to sweat it out.
With 32 current NFL franchises and eight, four-team divisions, the NFL does not appear to be in a rush to create any expansion teams which means that Los Angeles more than likely will continue to not have an NFL team to call their own. We saw the stadium boom of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s as cities bent over backwards to please teams. After the original Browns left Cleveland and Los Angeles lost two football teams in a matter of weeks, cities that were home to NFL teams knew that they would be forced to show them the money. Since the end of the 1994 NFL season there have been 19 new stadiums built for NFL teams with several more coming down the pike in the next few seasons.
Currently the Rams are looking to get upgrades to the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis while the San Diego Chargers are looking for a new stadium deal as well. Both the Rams and Chargers have previously called Los Angeles home and the city should try to put on the full-court press in the hopes to lure one of these teams back to L.A.
As far as things with the Rams go they have an early opt-out clause with the city of St. Louis. If the Edward Jones Dome is not in the top 25 percent of stadiums in the NFL, the Rams can then choose to opt-out of their lease. Rams owner Stan Kroenke recently added more fuel to the fire when he purchased 60 acres of land in Inglewood, California. But for any team to move from one city to another it must first be approved by 24 of the 32 owners.
Aside from currently not having a football team, Los Angeles is thriving on the sports scene. In 1999, the Staples Center made its debut in downtown Los Angeles. The Staples Center is a busy venue as it is home to the Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA, the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL, and the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA. The Clippers have become a legitimate contender in the NBA while the Kings won their first Stanley Cup Championship in 2012. Major League Soccer came to Southern California in 1996 in the form of the Los Angeles Galaxy who have won the MLS Cup four times. The Dodgers have not won the World Series since 1988. But with a new ownership group in place which includes former Lakers point guard Magic Johnson, the Dodgers have opened up the vault to put top-tier talent on the baseball diamond as they have one of the largest payrolls in Major League Baseball which they are hopeful will soon lead to another championship.
The Dodgers didn’t get a new stadium, but Dodger Stadium at Chavez Ravine has undergone some renovation in order to survive with the newer and more modern ballparks.
There have been off-and-on talks by politicians in Los Angeles to build a stadium for a potential NFL team, but nothing has come to fruition. The L.A. Coliseum is still used for football, but by the University of Southern California who owns and operates it. The L.A. Coliseum does not appeal to NFL teams due to the fact that it lacks luxury boxes as it is truly one of the last true “stadiums” around.
An NFL team in Los Angeles would naturally create rivalries with teams such as the San Francisco 49ers, Raiders, and Chargers (if they were to remain in San Diego). The flight from New York to London alone is six hours long. A West Coast team in the NFL would have to fly
across the country before continuing on the London just to play one game. With the London Series teams have their bye week immediately following the game, but that would change by putting a team there. One game per season in London is enough, but Goodell and more importantly the NFL owners see the dollar signs in Europe. The NFL has grown in popularity in the last 20 years in spite of the fact that they do not have a team currently in Los Angeles.
It is 20 years and counting for Los Angeles without an NFL team. It will take some more time, but I doubt that it will be another 20 years before L.A. is home to another NFL franchise.
Source: NFL.com
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