Watching Aroung the Horn earlier, TJ Simers of the LA Times mentioned that there will be a new Rose Bowl stadium in a couple of years and that the cities of New Orleans and Indianapolis had better look out as they are the prime candidates to relocate.

So my question is this-What happens if the Saints or Colts do in fact move to LA in terms of divisional alignment? The Saints are currently in the NFC South with the Bucs, Falcons and Panthers and the Colts are in the AFC South with the Jags, Titans and Texans. Can't imagine the NFL wants the LA team to be in either of those divisions. If it's the Colts, how do you break up the AFC West? Those teams share such a rich history. But I guess the most likely targets to change divisions would be the Chiefs in the AFC or the Rams in the NFC.

A Los Angeles team would HAVE to play in one of the West divisions. Guess it would be easier if it were the Chargers who moved up the freeway to LA!

If the Saints relocated to L.A., it would be a no-brainer: move the Rams to the NFC South with Tampa, Atlanta, and Carolina and let L.A. go to the NFC West. Seeing how intense the NFC West rivalries are, I can't see KC being an obvious choice for re-alignment if the Colts were to relocate. I'd move STL to the AFC South with HOU, TEN, and JAX, and let L.A. go to the NFC West with SEA, SF, and AZ. Either way, I think the Rams would be the obvious choice for re-alignment.

The Chargers have exercised a clause in their Qualcomm lease to open it up for renegotiation. The process could lead to them moving to L.A. in the next 18 months.

The Chargers are opening up a new stadium either this upcoming season or next season. From my recollection they were in the process of building one. I don't think they will be relocating to a new division or to a new city any time in the near future.

[ March 05, 2003, 09:28 PM: Message edited by: SmoothRon ]

I had heard about the Colts possibly relocating, but not the Saints. In any case, I've always thought it to be quite bizarre that Los Angeles, with something like ten million people and the second largest market in the US, has had no NFL team for several years, while Green Bay, with about 1% of LA's population, can support a team.

Maybe we're looking at a round-robin situation with the Chargers going to LA and somebody else going to SD. There could be a built in fan-base for the Chargers being so near and some of the folks in SD might even go up to see them...or boo them.

A little collusion or just good business? Any rules against it?

I volunteer to help the cardz move outta town...

I'm guessing the Chargers will be here by 2004 - if not this year.

If they were opening up a new stadium there'd be no issues that would result in the team moving any time soon. It's actually the baseball team, the Padres, opening the already-legendary Petco Park. The Chargers, for now, are stuck with Qualcomm.

I thought within the last year or so the Saints had agreed to some contract with the state to either build a new stadium or refurbish the Superdome. At least there was some kind of fix between the Saints and the government...maybe it was more temporary then I thought.

TJ Simers loves to drop the LA Stadium issue once every few months just to create football excitement in LA and sell a few issues. Until LA builds a new stadium, it won't happen. As much as the Chargers, Colts, Saints, etc. want to leave their cities for lack of support for a new stadium, there is less support in LA especially if they want to float a bond issue or increase property taxes. You always here about some rich millionaire offering to build it, but when push comes to shove they fade away. There is no doubt the NFL desperately wants it. In the last decade we have heard of a new stadium in Carson, Irwindale, a Staples Center renovation, Dodger Stadium and the Rose Bowl, etc. and they always fall back on renovating the coliseum and it kills the deal every time. Nobody wants the coliseum nor the area around the coliseum. It is a hole. LA is a land of transplants where most of the residents moving here from other states. Their loyalties lie with those childhood teams or the Raiders who seem to hold on to the gang bangers in LA (sorry to the few decent fans). I also don't believe residents around the Rose Bowl will allow it to be demolished for a large NFL venue. Traffic is already horrible around the area. I also think the Chargers are highly misguided in believing their fans will drive up the 5/405 to visit their newly named team. Most of the fans will feel betrayed and drop the team fast. As far as LA goes, until someone comes forward and just builds the stadium wherever in LA and it surrounds, it isn't going to happen. And even then, they will still support the Faiders.

This time it seems that we may be 1/2 way there. The biggest hurdle was the threat of lawsuits. Let's see how the league responds to this news. Maybe 2011? 2012? It'll be interesting to see which teams are interested & serious enough to move here. Frankly, I'd prefer an expansion team, but the reality of that seems far-fetched. Basically, this city is loaded w/ transplants from other cities/states, many of which are loyal fans of teams that they've loved their whole lives. The city would be better off "starting fresh" w/ an expansion team so that the populace can give its full support. Otherwise, there'll always be many Angelenos that hate the Saints, Charges, Bills, Cardinals, or whoever the f**k they bring here. But again, an expansion team seems unrealistic. We'll just have to wait & see.

We're getting even closer!

Nobody will relocate to L.A. because each NFL owner keeps Los Angeles as a "wild card" in their backpocket for new stadium negotiations when leases are about to expire. As L.A. is the obvious choice to relocate a franchise, all an owner has to do is threaten to move their team there and somehow a deal will get done to keep the franchise in the present city. Therefore, L.A. must always be vacant so an owner can pose this empty threat to their city to secure funding for new digs.

With L.A. being the most viable site for an NFL franchise (financially speaking), and if L.A. ever has an NFL team, owners can't rationally threaten to move their team anywhere (where else can boast such potential revenue as L.A. can?). Therefore, I honestly don't believe L.A. will host another NFL team unless, of all miracles, Las Vegas can threaten to support a team.