Oakland, San Diego And St. Louis Speak To NFL Owners
NEW YORK (AP) - Oakland, San Diego and St. Louis are making their pitches to save their teams from moving to Los Angeles.
Officials from those three cities are speaking to the league's Los Angeles, stadium and finance committees - all three of which play some role in a potential relocation. Oakland spoke first, and would be followed by San Diego and then St. Louis.
The Raiders and Chargers have combined on a project in Carson, California, that would cost about $1.78 billion if approved by three-fourths of the 32 owners. Rams owner Stan Kroenke is pushing a rival project in nearby Inglewood.
No votes are scheduled for Wednesday, and the league has set a special meeting in Dallas on Dec. 2 at which substantial steps could come, including moving up from January the deadline for application to relocate. Most NFL owners have reserved judgment on which plan they favor.
While representatives from the three cities outline plans for potential new stadiums - St. Louis already has a state-backed project costing about $1 billion - the league seriously contemplates a return to Los Angeles for the first time in more than two decades. Coincidentally, the Rams and Raiders were the teams that left the LA area after the 1994 season.
The Raiders-Chargers proposal added some firepower Wednesday by announcing that Disney CEO Bob Iger has agreed to lead the effort to build the stadium should NFL owners approve the teams' move.
Iger is set to serve under a five-year contract as non-executive chairman of Carson Holdings LLC, the joint venture to build a stadium on a 168-acre site.
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