FARMERS FIELD: STILL NO TEAM
By Jaboner Jackson 10:30 pm | Do not let the report from Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that Tim Leiweke of AEG met with management for the Minnesota Vikings confuse you. My source working with AEG has informed me that the Vikings are currently not in play to come to Los Angeles. The meeting, which happened Tuesday night at the W Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, was more a pitch by AEG to develop an entertainment complex around the future Vikings stadium than it was an attempt to lure the Vikings to Los Angeles.
AEG remains focused on bringing an expansion team to its proposed stadium. However, the CBA fiasco has delayed indefinitely the NFL’s planned expansion and put AEG’s internal timeline in disarray. Before the NFL lockout and CBA mess, AEG anticipated getting a commitment from the NFL for an expansion team by last March. Of course, this did not happen. In the meanwhile, AEG has been in discussions with the Oakland Raiders and St. Louis Rams about returning to L.A.
Ultimately, AEG wants two teams to inhabit its arena, much as it has two NBA teams inhabiting Staples Center, which it also owns. The discussions with the brass of the Vikings represent AEG’s recognition that their timeline is in havoc and that despite having the stadium be a done deal on the city side, it may not happen because once again the NFL remains the main obstacle, despite their public declaration that they want football back in the City of Angels.
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May 27th, 2011 - 09:39
Al is coming home. RAIDERS!