Who Will Play Football in Los Angeles

I always thought it was a joke about all the conversations about an NFL team playing Los Angeles. This was a city that couldn't even support the Rams and Raiders and saw both of these teams leave after the 1994 season.

Well we are closer to this dream now. The Govenator signed a bill yesterday allowing the construction of a 75,000-seat stadium in Los Angeles to lure a NFL franchise back to the city.

Developer Majestic Realty Company will build the stadium 15 miles to the East of Los Angeles. Majestic also hopes to lure a franchise to Los Angeles after the Super Bowl. The seven franchises Majestic hopes to lure is: Buffalo, St. Louis, Jacksonville, Oakland, Minnesota, San Diego, and San Francisco.

Let's take a look at each franchise and discuss why or why not they would move to Los Angeles:

Buffalo- The Bills already have one leg out the door in Buffalo. They play a couple of home games in Toronto for the next couple of years and the city of Buffalo has become to small market to support an NFL team. Now I doubt they would ever move with Ralph Wilson still alive, but he can't have that many years left. He is already in his 90's. Buffalo could be a real possibility down the road for a move, but not right away.

Jacksonville- This team has struggled for years in Jacksonville. When the annual Georgia-Florida game can easily sellout every year, but one Jaguars game can't, you have problems. Out of all the teams listed, Jacksonville makes the most sense to move right away. And if any team moves to Los Angeles, it probably would be Jacksonville.

Minnesota- Don't be surprised if the Vikings leave. The Metrodome is old and hard on the eyes. Plus, the Twins and the University of Minnesota have both left the Metrodome for their own new stadiums, leaving the Vikings all by themselves in the old dome. There has already been talks that the Vikings will be looking to leave after their lease with the Metrodome is up and if Minnesota refuses to build them a new stadium, the Vikings could be leaving for Los Angeles.

Oakland- So the Raiders left Oakland for Los Angeles, returned to Oakland, and then re-returned to Los Angeles? I think this is one of those situations where it's "been there, done that." I doubt the Raiders would want to return to Los Angeles after spending years there. But you never know with Al Davis, and he always goes where the money is. If Los Angeles makes a good enough offer, goodbye to Oakland.

St. Louis- Another team that has been in Los Angels and another team in need of a new stadium. They've also been there done that, money does talk. If Los Angeles is makes them offer, they may not be able to refuse it.

San Diego- There have been talks for years about the Chargers moving to Los Angeles. This move would make the most sense. San Diego plays in a old stadium and in a city that has no plans to build them a new one. They could move to Los Angeles while also keeping the area rights for San Diego.

San Francisco- Call me naive, but I doubt the Niners would move to Los Angeles. Out of all the Bay Area teams, the Niners are the only ones who sell out their stadium consistently. Plus the Niners seem contempt on building a new stadium in Santa Clara or there is still the possibility of them building a new stadium in San Francisco. I seriously doubt the Niners would move to Los Angeles.

Then again who knows if this stadium will actually be built. This state is so environmentally whacked, they could find a bull frog at the construction site and shut the whole project down. (Note: This is a true story. They were building a freeway overpass in Davis, California and shut down the project because they found a toad.) Also this is the same state that has wanted to build a train from Sacramento to Los Angeles for years and that project has never happened.

So I'm not going to get hot and bothered about a NFL team moving to Los Angeles until they finally build that new stadium. Until then, keep dreaming Los Angeles.

Gov. signs LA-area football stadium waiver bill (Fanhouse)