HOUSTON – The Chargers and Rams are headed for Los Angeles. The Raiders are headed back home. For a little while at least.
A league source confirmed to CSNCalifornia.com that the Raiders have bowed out of their LA relocation.
The Rams entered these meetings promoting a $1.86-billion Inglewood project, while the Raiders and Chargers promoted a $1.7-billion stadium proposal in Carson.
The league approved a separate option, putting the Rams and Chargers in the Inglewood proposal.
Both teams are expected to play at temporary Los Angeles venues starting next season.
The Raiders will be compensated for being left out of Los Angeles, though their bounty wasn’t immediately announced. The team is expected to receive additional financing to help build a stadium in the East Bay or another market. It is also possible that the Raiders will continue to look for a long-term stadium solution that can generate steady corporate revenue streams.
That could be in Oakland. It could legitimately be in another market.
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The league’s decision came on the second formal vote.
The NFL whittled three proposals down to two prior to the first vote, as a league source confirmed that the Rams’ proposal to play in the Inglewood stadium they’ve created alone was taken off the ballot early Tuesday afternoon.
League owners conducted an initial vote after that decision and neither proposal received the 24 votes required for approval. The Los Angeles times reported that the Inglewood option received more votes than the Carson plan. That result came despite the fact that the NFL’s committee on L.A. opportunities recommended the Raiders-Chargers project in Carson.
Owners then broke for further discussion in hopes of reaching an accord. The league’s L.A. committee met with Spanos and Davis privately, as they discussed a way to break up the Carson coalition.
That happened on Tuesday night.
Disney CEO and Carson stadium chairman Bob Iger gave a presentation on Tuesday morning that sources say impressed owners in the room. Rams owner Stan Kroenke led off Tuesday’s meeting touting his project and its merits, which proved to be the preferred site.
The Chargers had been quietly working on the Carson project for a while, and found a partner in the Raiders in early 2015. Chargers owner Dean Spanos and Raiders owner formed a strong bond over the last year, and Spanos didn’t want to let his partner go without making sure Davis found an agreeable settlement.
Where the Raiders go from here is up in the air. O.co Coliseum would welcome the Raiders back with open arms even on a one-year lease, though the team is not committed to return. It has flirted with San Antonio in the past, and San Diego popped up as a possible destination in discussions at these meetings, though that interest has not been confirmed by anyone within the organization.
The Oakland Raiders released the following statement:
"The Raiders congratulate Stan Kroenke and the Rams on their successful bid for relocation to Los Angeles. The Raiders will now turn our attention to exploring all options to find a permanent stadium solution. We thank fans throughout the Raider Nation for their unrivaled passion and support."
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf released the following statement late Tuesday:
“We are pleased to have additional time to work with the Raiders and the NFL to build a new home for the team in Oakland.
We recognize that the Raiders have been understandably frustrated over the years, so we are excited to have this chance to rededicate ourselves to getting a deal done in Oakland that works for the team, the NFL, our fans and our taxpayers.
We remain confident that the Raiders can build a new stadium in Oakland without a direct public subsidy. We stand ready to work with the Raiders and the NFL to responsibly make that happen.”
