The NFL is coming to Los Angeles soon, no matter what Oaklanders, St. Louisans, San Diegans, or local labor groups have to say about it. The sheer amount of money behind the proposed moves of one or all of the Rams, Chargers, or Raiders, coupled with the NFL’s desire to break into the country’s #2 market means something is going to happen.
Potential stadiums in Carson and Inglewood have both been approved by their respective local governments, and now comes the hard part; getting them paid for. The Carson stadium, which will most likely hold the Raiders and the Chargers, will cost $1.65 billion. This would put it up with MetLife Stadium and the Tokyo National Olympic Stadium as one of the most expensive stadia in the world. The NFL has a typically nefarious plan to do help get the cash together, which involves asking the NFLPA to help out.
According to a report from Bloomberg Business, it is not atypical for the NFLPA to assume some of the cost. Except in this case, all the NFLPA’s current credits for stadium projects have been used up until 2020. That’s too long for the NFL to wait. Here’s more, from the report:
Still, two executives from NFL teams said the credit could be worth about $300 million if two teams share the stadium. The executives requested anonymity because the league hasn’t commented on talks with the players association.
Whatever the amount, it would be excluded from the revenue calculation that determines the salary cap. The NFL generates more than $12 billion in annual revenue.
A clause in the collective bargaining agreement says the league, with regards to any stadium project in the Los Angeles area, can elect not to include it in the calculation of the Stadium Credit Threshold. If the players decline to approve a stadium credit, any new facility would have to be financed with public and private money, or with a loan from the NFL.
Players, at least according to their union reps, see this as a potential benefit, as well as an investment:
“When we signed the deal in 2011, we considered our role in growing the game and we review every investment opportunity and proposal carefully,” union spokesman George Atallah said.
Former Raiders Chief Executive Officer Amy Trask said the players have a good incentive to approve the credit. New facilities generate more revenue, which in turn raises the league-wide team salary cap.
I reached out to the NFLPA for comment and as of now, they have not gotten back to me.
The Davis and Spanos families, who own the Raiders and Chargers respectively, are each worth over a billion, and their franchises themselves are worth a combined $2.96 billion, They are also asking the public, which did not vote on the stadium plan, to pay for a chunk of it too, as is custom for these greedy bastards.
Photo via AP
Contact the author at patrick@deadspin.com or @patrickredford.