With news that developer Ed Roski is breaking ground on an 80,000 t0 90,000 seat stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of City of Industry with a planned completion by mid 2011, the recent stability of NFL franchises is likely to end after a quiet period this decade. Six NFL clubs already have or will have their stadium leases expire in the next few years. Each of these clubs are in situations which may result in as many as four, if not more, of the clubs relocating within the next five to six years.
The San Diego Chargers have already let their lease with the City and County of San Diego expire in 2007 for use of Qualcom Stadium and are arranging to stay in that facility on a year to year basis while the club looks for a suitable location for
a new state of the art stadium. Currently it appears
Chula Vista, a poorer suburb of San Diego located a few miles south, is the leading location for a new stadium for the Chargers. If negotiations and agreement on financial and other terms fail, the Chargers may yet return north adjacent to the city that was their home in their inaugural year of existence in 1960.
The San Francisco FortyNiners' lease with the city of San Francisco for playing in Candlestick Park (also known in recent years as 3Com Park and Monster Stadium) expired with the completion of the 49ers' season on Sunday 28 December. The Niners have a series of five year lease options that they may exercise; and they are probably likely to execute the first of those to keep them in Candlestick for the '09 - '13 seasons. But the 49ers are already working on plans for a replacement new stadium. Their first choice is south of San Francisco on the south end of the bay in
Santa Clara, forty miles southeast of Candlestick where the club has its headquarters and practice facilities already. This option has emerged in light of a number of years of failure to have a
new stadium erected in the area adjacent to Candlestick. Should efforts continue to fail to get a new state of the art structure constructed for the 49ers, it is becoming increasingly possible the club will leave the Bay Area and relocate, with the new stadium east of LA being built by Roski as their likely first choice should it still be available. But by 2012 or 2013 that option for the Niners may be gone, and they may have to look to other areas which perhaps may include Portland, Oregon, or Sacramento. The possibility of being a co-tenant in the new LA building would seem to be unlikely as it would result in adequate revenues. But with the Raiders likely to leave the Bay Area soon, it is strongly likely the Niners will get their new building in or adjacent to San Francisco so as to have politicians to avoid the embarrassment and shame of having both pro football teams leave their region as what happened to the south in the Los Angeles area in 1995.
The next club with their lease up is the Oakland Raiders. Al Davis' terms with the Oakland - Alameda County Coliseum end after the completion of the 2010 season, and it appears virtually certain the Raiders will be departing in short order soon after. The Raiders will probably consider Los Angeles, but observers feel Davis will look to move into virgin territory where he can get the best building possible in order to balloon the value of his club in the closing years of his life which will get his heirs the greatest return for selling the franchise upon his death in the next one to two decades. The locations reportedly under consideration include San Antonio, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas. Other possibilities are Portland, Sacramento, and Birmingham. San Antonio would seem the best choice with a good facility (The Alamodome) ready for use which would be a considerable improvement over the Coliseum in Oakland that is strongly disdained by Davis for many reasons. South Texas is rabid for its own pro football team and would build Davis a new palace almost immediately after he relocates the Raiders to San Antonio. The club would probably retire the Raiders name and be renamed something along the lines such as the San Antonio Troopers or Sombreros. The other locations under consideration lack a current NFL quality facility which would need to be constructed before the Raiders complete their move. This is a scenario similar to what the Tennessee Titans followed as they played two seasons in Memphis before completing their move to Nashville. Of all the clubs that may possibly relocate, the Oakland Raiders are probably most likely to do so, and may be in a new city for the 2011 season. With the peril of the San Francisco FortyNiners also relocating, it is entirely possible the San Francisco Bay Area and Metropolitan area may be without professional football teams in the next few years, similar to what the Los Angeles area has endured for the last thirteen seasons and likely for at least a few more years.
The Minnesota Vikings lease to play in the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis expires after the completion of the 2011 season, and currently it appears unlikely a new building will be constructed any time soon in the Twin Cities area. Citizens and politicians were already averse to replacing the dome with a Taj Mahal for their beloved Vikings, and the ongoing economic downturn makes any possiblity seem very remote. Vikings owner Zigi Wilf very much wants to stay in Minneapolis, but it would appear an ugly war of threats and propoganda is likely to develop in the next few years between the NFL and Minnesota politicians. The scenario that may develop for the Vikings may be one of heartbreak, as the club very well could follow the example of the Baltimore Colts after the 1983 season and relocate suddenly to another city. The usual suspects of Los Angeles, Birmingham, Memphis, Toronto, Vancouver, Portland, and San Antonio would be considered, but in the end it seems likely that cooler heads will prevail and the Vikings will stay where they are as
a new stadium, perhaps not as posh as the ownership yearns for, will get built in either Minneapolis or in the adjacent Twin Cities suburbs within the next five seasons or so.
The New Orleans Saints were on the edge of departing from the Riverboat City after the 2006 season, but Hurricane Katrina ended any plans of that as Saints ownership quickly agreed with federal, state, and local New Orleans officials and politicans that having them stay was essential in helping to restore and recover the city and surrounding region from the catastrophe. But Tom Bensen signed a lease only through the 2010 season.
The Superdome has undergone significant improvements and upgrades since it was seriously damaged by the hurricane, but the city and region continues to struggle on many levels years after the catastrophe and the Saints are increasingly concerned about the New Orleans area being able to support the Saints to the extent required for an NFL club into the second decade of the 21st century. Barring some significant political giveaways, it appears the Saints will depart the Crescent City in 2011, with San Antonio their first choice if still available; but it appears their ultimate destination will be Los Angeles. Bensen has a number of businesses in the San Antonio area that makes that city enticing on a personal level, but the opportunity to be in the nation's second largest market with all the revenue potential is too much to say no to. The state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans are already directly financially subsidizing the Saints, and any more monies from taxpayers to the Saints is all but impossible given Louisiana's particular economic troubles and the intensive problems and hardships still in place from Hurricane Katrina over three years later.
The final NFL club that has a lease that will expire in the next few years is the Buffalo Bills. Their agreement to play at Ralph Wilson Stadium in suburban Orchard Park expires following the 2012 season. The Bills have already contracted to play one regular game per season in the coming five years in the Rogers Centre (formerly The Skydome) in Toronto.
Ralph Wilson is the club's original and only owner and he will turn 91 years of age in October 2009. Wilson has already declared the club will be sold upon his death, and given the long ongoing steep decay in all aspects of business and economy in the Buffalo and western New York region, it is likely the next owners will move to have the club depart from Buffalo in the coming years, most likely to Toronto on an increasing basis in a phased move over several years. It would seem likely the Bills will play a clear majority of their games in Canada within the next several years, with arrangements likely for one to two games still to be played in Orchard Park. This would be a similar arrangement to what the Green Bay Packers had with Milwaukee, as the Packers played two to three games annually in County Stadium from 1953 to 1994.
Other clubs that have been discussed as candidates for relocation include the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets, and St Louis Rams; but these three clubs as well as all other NFL clubs have strong leases which will keep in them in their current cities until after 2025 at least.
After a decade of no relocations following the 1990s when four clubs (Raiders, Rams, Ravens, and Titans) relocated, it seems strongly probable a least two to four clubs will do so in the coming few to several years. And when these relocations do occur, it will stir enormous controversy and emotions from fans, followers, businesses, media, and politicians.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dwyre30-2008dec30,0,7751424.column*****
I would have to agree wholeheartedly with these 15 words being defined as being way overused this year. I am guilty as any for using some of these words too often -- such as bailout; but for the most part I did not use most of these often if at all in my everyday speech or in my writings on my various blogs.
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