LA has waited long enough

Adrian Herrera/ Roundup

With Los Angeles's colorful sports history and the winning tradition of its other professional sporting teams like the Lakers and Dodgers it is only fitting that our city also have an NFL franchise. Our city is suffering from an economic crisis and bringing a pro football team can have a boost in the economy. In 1994 Los Angeles had two NFL teams with the Raiders and the Rams, however, at the conclusion of that season, not one, but both teams relocated with the Raiders moving to Oakland and the Rams to St. Louis, leaving Los Angeles with no NFL team at the start of the 1995 NFL season

14 years later the same remains. Los Angeles is second largest city in the United States and along with New York City, the two most important sports and media markets in the country but while New York has two NFL teams we have none. Their have been many obstacles from preventing any pro team to relocate to Los Angeles, one major problem being the stadium issue and its location. Over the years there have been many proposed sites for a new stadium.  As of today the front runner is a location in the City of Industry which would house a state of the art stadium.  This is something the NFL wants prospected cities to have and something our city does not have as Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is outdated and lacks many amenities. According to the Orange County Business Journal a football stadium in the city could mean as much as $400 million in yearly revenues to businesses and bring more than 3,000 jobs to the area, not to mention what the state and city will be collecting from taxes. Right now our city is fighting a high level of unemployment rate and adding jobs can only help reduce that number. While "Angelenos" stick together rooting for the home teams like the Dodgers, Kings, Lakers, and Clippers, when it comes to pro football we are divided, not having that LA team to cheer for. Fans take there money elsewhere, to nearby NFL cities like San Francisco, Oakland, and San Diego. Then putting the money into their economy instead of putting it back into Los Angeles. Our city should have an NFL team, but when it comes down to it the NFL is left with that decision. As of now, the league has no plans of expansion. The cities only hope in getting an NFL team is if a team relocates from its current city to Los Angeles. There have been many rumors of different teams, the St. Louis Rams being one of those, but nothing is certain. Los Angeles is adamant about having an NFL team, but with no action from the league, it seems like Los Angeles is bidding right now on nothing.

 

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