All posts tagged Detroit Lions

As a sports fan living in Los Angeles I find it disgraceful that there is no NFL team here. There are far smaller cities that support a team, and LA was #2 on Forbes Hottest Sports Cities in 2009 despite the lack of a gridiron team. The hype of a team coming to LA is reaching a feverish pitch, with all kinds of speculation, celebrity, and dreams involved.

Let’s examine some of the major players, shall we?

1. Location? Check. In June of this year, the City of Industry approved plans for a major NFL stadium complex to be built. Only 15 miles from downtown LA, the location is ideal for job creation and accessibility to several major freeways which is key for any major-market team.
2. Some sources have predicted that one of the other California teams that have previously been in LA will return: the San Diego Chargers or the Oakland Raiders.  With dwindling ticket sales in Oakland and San Diego this remains a possibility, although I see it as highly unlikely, especially as San Diego has had several successful seasons in recent years and Oakland was the most recent team here.
3. Magic Johnson wants to move a team here. A powerhouse for the Lakers, Magic is now a businessman extraordinaire who tends to have the Midas touch when he puts his hands on a project. He has teamed up with sports powerhouse AEG (owner of the LA Kings, and partial interest in the LA Lakers,  among other professional sports teams) to move an existing franchise here. This team is also considering adding a retractable-roof stadium to the already established Staples Center complex in downtown LA. (Retractable roof? Really? It rarely gets below 50 degrees in this city, and as for the rain possibilities during football season? Even more rare. SoCal residents are apparently pussies who will melt with a little rain.)
4. Speaking of existing franchises, some that have been mentioned as potential candidates for the move include the: Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, St. Louis Rams, San Fransisco 49ers, Detroit Lions, and the Minnesota Vikings, (in addition to the Raiders and Chargers as mentioned above.)
5. With the collapse of the roof of the Metrodome this week, the talk of the Vikings coming to sunny southern California has stepped up. In 2009 the Vikings ownership group met with other SoCal team backers, which, Surprise!, included the AEG team. Incidentally, they’re also on the last year of their lease.

Are there other possibilities? Maybe. But the one thing that I do know is that the Angelenos are getting restless. Santa? Could you please send us an NFL franchise for Christmas this year?

As much as Kendra would like to have a franchise in LA, she’ll never stop loving her Broncos.

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