The NFL Teams That COULD Move To Los Angeles (Though Unlikely)

Dec 30, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers running back Jackie Battle (44) runs the ball during the third quarter against the Oakland Raiders at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

As the National Football League’s 32 teams have opened their training camps – with the Dallas Cowboys training in nearby Oxnard – this season will mark the 19th year that America’s second largest city will be without a team in the country’s most popular sports league.

It’s hard to believe that pre-season games will begin on August 4, when the Cowboys meet the Miami Dolphins in the annual Hall of Fame Game in Canton, OH

Since the Raiders and Rams left Los Angeles high and dry in 1995, various NFL teams have used L.A. as leverage to get new stadiums built in their towns, most notably the Cincinnati Bengals and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Seattle Seahawks nearly came south in 1996, but were stopped by the NFL owners, while issues with building a new stadium in 1999 led the league to award an expansion team to Houston.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell stated in 2012 that he would prefer that no one relocated to Los Angeles, that if a team were to be based in L.A. it would be through expansion.

Nonetheless, there remains three teams that – although highly unlikely – could conceivably move to Southern California due to problems with their existing stadiums. Former AEG owner Philip Anschutz has had discussions with the following franchises about a possible move to the proposed Farmers Field in Downtown L.A should that stadium ever get built:

1.  San Diego Chargers

It’s no secret that SoCal’s lone NFL team is unhappy with Qualcomm Stadium as the city of San Diego has been unable to find adequate funds to upgrade the longtime Charger home; an out clause in which the Chargers could leave has been in place, but unused.

December 23, 2012; Tampa, FL, USA; St. Louis Rams outside linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar (58) rushes against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. St. Louis Rams defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 28-13. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

As such, the team is trying to build a new stadium downtown, like their baseball counterparts, the Padres, did when Petco Park opened in 2004.

2.  St. Louis Rams

Like the Chargers, this former Los Angeles team – they played in the Coliseum from 1945-1979 before moving to Anaheim in 1980 and staying for 15 years – also have a out clause in their lease at the Edward Jones Dome.

Owner Stan Kroenke dearly wants upgrades to the Rams’ home, and rejected a $124 million offer from the city of St. Louis, apparently because the requirement calling for Kroenke paying 52 percent of the improvement costs wasn’t suitable for him. According to an online article, the Rams owner hasn’t made a solid commitment to remain in St. Louis until he gets what he wants as far as improving his stadium.

3.  Oakland Raiders

It’s a general agreement that the Raiders current home, the O.co Coliseum, has been in pretty bad shape for a while and that a new place to house the team and Raider Nation is badly needed.

Owner Al Davis had been working on getting that new home right up to his death in 2011, and now his son Mark has taken up the mantle as he has discussed moving back to L.A. with Anschutz as well as looked at various locations in the East Bay.

Their current lease with O.co Coliseum is up this year.

As of now, a possibility for the Raiders is getting the San Francisco 49ers to share their new home in Santa Clara, Levi’s Stadium, scheduled to open in 2014, with them.

Mark Davis has recently stated that although he wants to keep the team in Oakland, he has no plans share space with their Bay Area rivals, as the Raider fans has stated their disapproval of that idea due to the longtime animosity between them and 49er fans.

The bottom line in all of this is that any talk of a team possibly moving to L.A. is just that – talk.

This city is no closer to getting an NFL franchise as it was in 1995, and fans in the greater L.A. area, as evidenced by their enthusiasm for the UCLA Bruins and the USC Trojans and the way they crowd local sports bars on Sundays to cheer for teams like the Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers, by and large don’t seem to care if the NFL returns or not.

So as the cliche goes, it is what it is.

WHAT DO YOU THINK L.A. SPORTS HUBBERS – WILL L.A. GET AN NFL TEAM ANYTIME SOON?

DO YOU EVEN WANT A TEAM? 

AND IF SO, WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME?