The wait for the NFL to return to Los Angeles is closer to ending after 20 years.
NFL.com reported that a league source commented more than favorably on the stadium plans for Inglewood, Calif., submitted by St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
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"We're beginning to see the goal line," the source told NFL.com.
Despite the opportunity the city of St. Louis has to come up with a counteroffer to show a good-faith effort to satisfy the team's needs, the fact that the most concrete plan for a stadium in Los Angeles since the Rams and Raiders left in 1994 has surfaced could circumvent any St. Louis proposal.
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On Monday afternoon, the Rams informed the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Bureau that it is switching to a year-to-year lease.
According to NFL.com, "How that plays out (a St. Louis stadium proposal) will determine whether or not the club meets the league's relocation guidelines, which call for a team to demonstrate that the existing market has failed. If the financing includes an eventual public contribution, that will make it tougher for the Rams to qualify for relocation, but if the St. Louis plan does not end up including much public money, that could grease the skids for a move. In any case, the Rams have been less successful than the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders when it comes to demonstrating that their market has failed.
But all of that might not matter. Remember, the league has a huge interest in making Los Angeles workthat one way or another, and this project seems to meet the right-team, right-owner, right-stadium threshold."
In other words, the league can't wait to move back to L.A., and could look for any way to break the agreement with St. Louis, NFL.com says.
Kroenke bought 60 acres of land in January. One barrier is the fat that while that land's zoning is approved for a stadium, the adjacent 238 acres of land isn't. The team would need to provide 8,500 signatures from residents of Inglewood to set up a public vote to re-zone the land.
A source told NFL.com that the Rams already have the 8,500 signatures required.
If the Rams are allowed to use the full 298 acres of land, that would dwarf the current 73 acres of land is home to AT&T Stadium and the Dallas Cowboys.
"The way it's been laid out to the clubs, the league wants the L.A. stadium to be an iconic venue that's a sports and entertainment destination. This vast property would satisfy that, with a number of projects expected to pop up on the periphery within the grounds around the team's home, creating a West Coast headquarters of sorts for the league."
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