Why the Oakland Raiders aren’t moving to Los Angeles
Dec 10, 2014; Irving, TX, USA; Houston Texans owner Robert McNair (far right) addresses the media along with (L-R) Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, and Dallas Cowboys executive vice president Charlotte Jones Anderson at the Las Colinas Four Seasons Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
McNair slanting the story
McNair’s agenda is as simple as trying his best to help Spanos and his Chargers to Los Angeles. He wants to believe it himself so of course he’ll slant everything to make it look like the best option. He has continuously slammed those that run the city of San Diego while making St. Louis’ plan sound like a slam dunk.
He told Chron.com, “St. Louis, they have come up with a proposal that is getting pretty close, in my opinion, to being an attractive proposal. And if they do come up with an attractive proposal, then in my view, my personal opinion, I don’t think the Rams will receive the approval to relocate. So that would mean then you’d have two teams, San Diego and Oakland, that would be going into Carson. They have a partnership to build a stadium.”
The first thing everyone interested in this has to notice is that all that is in his “personal opinion.” We already know what his agenda is so his “personal opinion” is obviously going to be tied to it. A couple of days later, the city of St. Louis, voted on a stadium plan that isn’t very attractive.
What the city voted on and passed was a proposal that requires the NFL to pitch in $300 million. But that won’t happen because under the NFL’s G-4 policy, they’ll give the Rams no more than $200 million. So many have the perception from McNair’s premature comments that the Rams are stuck in St. Louis.
But one thing they have ignored is the letter reported by Sam Farmer of the LA Times saying, “No proposal has yet been presented to increase the available financing beyond the current $200 million maximum. And there can be no assurance that such a proposal would achieve the necessary support.”
The NFL isn’t going to fork over another $100 million so there’s nothing sticking the Rams in St. Louis. That means the Chargers and Raiders don’t have the clear path to LA McNair said they do. So if you look at McNair’s comments for what they really are, they’re a combination of wishful thinking and coming to a premature conclusion.
Next: NFL to help Raiders