Los Angeles Upgrade Coliseum for Bid; Texans make proposals

[minibronco]

City officials hope renovations will lure NFL team

LOS ANGELES -- City officials next week will pitch their plans to the NFL for an $800 million upgrade of the aging Los Angeles Coliseum in hopes of luring a professional football team back to town.

The 67,000-seat reconstruction would include 15,000 club seats, 500 luxury boxes and state-of-the-art amenities. It would be constructed within the shell of the existing Coliseum, which hosted the 1932 and 1984 Olympics.

The Coliseum is used by the University of Southern California football team but it hasn't hosted a professional team since the Raiders in 1994. They returned to Oakland the next year.

In October, the City Council agreed to allow for up to $25 million in local tax revenues generated by a stadium renovation to be earmarked for redevelopment projects around the Coliseum.

However, city officials have resisted pledges to supply money for actual stadium construction, especially at a time when the budget is running hundreds of millions of dollars in the red.

City officials hope the NFL will agree to pay for the new stadium.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other city and county officials will urge the NFL on May 2 in Dallas to place an existing or an expansion team in town.

"Los Angeles is a great sports town," Villaraigosa said at Tuesday's news conference at the Coliseum, where city officials outlined the renovation plans.

"We have a great fan base that supports its teams," he said.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2421901

Texans exchange proposals with Bush, Williams

In a move that further ratchets up their public stance of indecision over the first pick in the NFL draft, the Houston Texans on Friday exchanged contract proposals with the agents for Southern California tailback Reggie Bush and North Carolina State defensive end Mario Williams, ESPN.com learned through multiple league sources.


Because they own the first choice, the Texans are free to speak with any of the prospects and to conduct simultaneous negotiations. The aim of the Texans, it appears, is to have an agreement in place before the start of the April 29 draft.


Houston general manager Charley Casserly said earlier this week that the Texans would likely not settle on a top pick until next week. Like most teams, the Texans are deep into their draft evaluation meetings, which will continue this weekend. The choice, Casserly all but acknowledged this week, comes down to Bush or Williams, but the consensus in the league is that the Texans will choose the former Trojans star.


The Texans have yet to receive any firm offers from other teams trying to trade up to the top spot. Certainly they have the right, and ability, to financially leverage Bush and Williams against each other by negotiating with both at the same time and to strike a deal most advantageous to the team.


The events of Friday, at least with Bush, followed a Thursday evening discussion in which the two sides broached contract parameters for the first time. None of the sources contacted on Friday had knowledge of any of the financial details of the proposals exchanged earlier in the day. Bush said Thursday that rumors he was seeking $30 million in guarantees were erroneous and reiterated at the time that no numbers had been discussed.


It is not known when parameters were first suggested to Ben Dogra, the agent for Williams, a dominating pass rusher who is regarded as the premier defensive player in the talent pool.


Bush's agent, Joel Segal, told ESPN.com last week that "it would be the ultimate for both sides" to have an agreement in place before the draft begins. It does not appear, sources said, that an agreement is imminent with either player based on the Friday discussions.


Even with the recently approved extension to the collective bargaining agreement, there are still several restrictions that will call for creativity from the Texans and whoever is the first choice in the draft.


In the last 10 drafts, the top overall choice has reached a contract agreement before the start of the lottery on three occasions. Houston agreed with the top choice in the 2002 draft, quarterback David Carr, before the draft commenced. The other No. 1 overall selections who had deals in place before the draft began were Tim Couch of Cleveland in 1999 and Carson Palmer of Cincinnati in 2003.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft0...ory?id=2417167

[SoCalBronco]

Originally Posted by minibronco

"Los Angeles is a great sports town," Villaraigosa said at Tuesday's news conference at the Coliseum, where city officials outlined the renovation plans.

"We have a great fan base that supports its teams," he said.

[24champ]

Originally Posted by SoCalBronco

why is that funny when he is right? Laker games sell-out alot, Kings have a great hockey fan base believe it or not. Clippers are doing well also. However I disagree that a football team should be in LA.

[minibronco]

Yea, Villa is actually correct on that one. I don't get the laugh...

[SoCalBronco]

Originally Posted by 24champbailey

why is that funny when he is right? Laker games sell-out alot, Kings have a great hockey fan base believe it or not. Clippers are doing well also. However I disagree that a football team should be in LA.

Please. This city is full of useless bandwagoners. How come I dont see Laker flags on cars anymore? Gee I wonder why. Im not saying other cities dont have bandwagoners either, but from my experience, they are ALL over L.A.
I cant even tell you how many people I have seen go from crazy "die hard" fans to "eh..dont care too much". Maybe I am just living in a part of town that isnt reflective of the southern california community but I doubt it. I dont doubt that there are some real die hards, but I have seen so many damn bandwagoners...and a good deal of people who are generally apathetic towards sports, that I cant accept the notion that L.A. is a great sports town or even a good sports town. Where were all the people when Mike Van Raaphorst was the Trojans starting QB? Hell...where were all the people when Carson Palmer was the starter in 2000 and 2001? I have very little respect for the fans in this town.

[minibronco]

Originally Posted by SoCalBronco

Please. This city is full of useless bandwagoners. How come I dont see Laker flags on cars anymore? Gee I wonder why. Im not saying other cities dont have bandwagoners either, but from my experience, they are ALL over L.A.
I cant even tell you how many people I have seen go from crazy "die hard" fans to "eh..dont care too much". Maybe I am just living in a part of town that isnt reflective of the southern california community but I doubt it. I dont doubt that there are some real die hards, but I have seen so many damn bandwagoners...and a good deal of people who are generally apathetic towards sports, that I cant accept the notion that L.A. is a great sports town or even a good sports town. Where were all the people when Mike Van Raaphorst was the Trojans starting QB? Hell...where were all the people when Carson Palmer was the starter in 2000 and 2001? I have very little respect for the fans in this town.

Yea, ok. It actually varies from sport to sport. There are a lot of Laker fans, but only the bandwagoners put up the flag so it seems like there are a lot of them. The other sports have pretty stable fan bases, even through the losses.

But I admit that the Los Angeles fan base is not as big as it appears to be, but still big enough to deserve a football team.

edit: I actually live in Cypress, CA (Orange County), so it would be best (and better) to have the team based in OC. Fans and environment are much better here.

[broncocalijohn]

bandwagoners are an every town just it shows in LA. When we were 7 and 8 and trying to be the first team to start 0 and 4 then get to .500 (mid 90s), we were playing the Saints on 23rd of December. 10k no shows. Now, that isnt bad for the situation and time of year in most cities but for denver to have 10k no shows? Then a few years later, everyone jumped back on. LA doesnt deserve the team. Anaheim has a much better proposition for the NFL and is a better location. OC is cool. LA is so disgusting. I try not to go pass the LBC unless i am attending a Southern California game at the Coliseum.

[Pezman]

Dont forget Rivertucky errr the Inland Empire would love to get a team I personally would love to see a team end up in Pasadena or Anaheim but the L.A. hacks and corporate thugs will never go for that option.

[Drek]

City officials next week will pitch their plans to the NFL for an $800 million upgrade of the aging Los Angeles Coliseum in hopes of luring a professional football team back to town.

City officials hope the NFL will agree to pay for the new stadium.

So basically they're going to ask the NFL for $800M? Renovate a stadium for about three or four times what Kraft spent on building the very beautiful Gillette Stadium?

I'm sure teh city of L.A. would want it to remain their property, with USC and various other events allowed to play there as well.

****, talk about wanting to have your cake and eat it too. This is why the NFL will not return to L.A. without a big money owner forcing himself in. The NFL isn't going to spend **** to relocate a team, they're in the driver's seat here, being that they are the most popular sport across the U.S. right now. If L.A. thinks its a great sports city it should pony up and make the financial commitment themselves ,most every other city has.

[Bob's your Information Minister]

LA should just become an independent nation and float out to sea.

[Rock Chalk]

Originally Posted by Some Jackoff That Dont Know ****

"Los Angeles is a great sports town,"

That's why they lost their two football franchises, cant get anyone to watch the Clippers and the Lakers are only popular if they are winning.

Yep. sounds like a great sports town to me. Full of illegals who watch futbol, not football.

[Jason in LA]

I don't have too much time right now to explain why LA is a great sports town. I'll get into detail about that later. For now, I'll just say a few things.

If we went by attendence, LA outdraws every other city. Just to compare LA to the biggest sports market, New York, the Dodgers and Angles out draw the Yankees and Mets, and just aobut anybody else. The Lakers and Clippers out draw the the Knicks and Nets, and just about everybody else. UCLA and USC football draw about the same amount of people as the Jets and Giants. USC out draws every NFL team. UCLA football is just below the NFL average, and out draws a number of NFL teams.

How many other cities have two major college programs? And both get good attendence.

As for the silly Laker flag argument, how many people in other cities who have flags drive around with them year round? I'm sure when the Broncos were in the playoffs there were people who put Bronco flags on their car. I'm sure in Detroit there are people with Piston flags on their car right now, and will fly them over the next month. Will they have those flags flying in June? Probably not. When the Lakers were making their run, the flags were only flying when they got deep into the playoffs. You didn't see many of them during the season, or early in the playoffs. You never saw them during the offseason. It would be silly to be flying a flag when the team isn't even playing. I'm pretty sure that's true for any city.

LA is a great sports town. There is no question about that.

[Jason in LA]

Originally Posted by Alec

That's why they lost their two football franchises, cant get anyone to watch the Clippers and the Lakers are only popular if they are winning.

Yep. sounds like a great sports town to me. Full of illegals who watch futbol, not football.

Talk about BS. I don't know where you got that crap from. Probably just made it all up.

The Clippers have gotten good attendence over the past few years.

The Lakers sucked a** last year and still had many sellouts. This year was no different.

Like I said in my last post, USC football has a higher attendence then any team in the NFL, and UCLA, who is a basketball school, is just below the NFL average in attendence, and out draws a number of NFL teams.

More people in LA attend football games than just about any other city. New York is the only city that out draws LA in football, but it isnt' by much. LA out draws every other city in every other sport.

[Rohirrim]

The nice part about LA is the selling of NFL gear. I went to a bunch of games at the Colisseum when the Faders were playing there. You could look throughout the stands and see the gear of every team in the league. Hell, you see the gear from teams in just about every sport in the country. The best thing they did was the wave. And they did it no matter what was happening on the field. That part of LA is full of transients. If they're going to build a stadium and draw the hard core fans, they need to build it in a blue collar area like San Pedro or Wilmington or Carson, not on the campus of USC.

[phisig150]

Originally Posted by SoCalBronco

Please. This city is full of useless bandwagoners. How come I dont see Laker flags on cars anymore? Gee I wonder why. Im not saying other cities dont have bandwagoners either, but from my experience, they are ALL over L.A.
I cant even tell you how many people I have seen go from crazy "die hard" fans to "eh..dont care too much". Maybe I am just living in a part of town that isnt reflective of the southern california community but I doubt it. I dont doubt that there are some real die hards, but I have seen so many damn bandwagoners...and a good deal of people who are generally apathetic towards sports, that I cant accept the notion that L.A. is a great sports town or even a good sports town. Where were all the people when Mike Van Raaphorst was the Trojans starting QB? Hell...where were all the people when Carson Palmer was the starter in 2000 and 2001? I have very little respect for the fans in this town.

The Dodgers are always top 3 in attendance evry year regardless of their record. The Lakers always sell out and even last year a ticket was still hard to come by. SC abd UCLA are always big draws. I'm so sick of the myth that LA has crappy sports fans. The way Georgia purposesly ran the Rams org into the ground that team didn't deserve to be supported and the Raiders are always a joke and law abiding citizens are too intidmidated to go. Just because we have other things to do out here doesn't make us any less of fans.

[bendog]

I heard San Diego's mayor said something about the team should settle on a site for a new stadium in San Diego, or it should be free to move on. I sort of get the feeling the chargers will just move North. But, I don't see the necessity of a new stadium being in LA or even Orange County. The friggin city seems to go halfway to Phoenix nowdays.

[24champ]

LA is ranked number three-
http://www.sportsfansofamerica.com/I...ans/Cities.htm

Sporting News has LA number 5

Best Sports Cites:
1. Boston
2. Oakland-San Francisco-San Jose
3. New York-Long Island-New Jersey
4. Houston
5. Los Angeles-Anaheim
6. Miami-Fort Lauderdale
7. Detroit
8. Dallas-Fort Worth
9. Philadelphia
10. Minneapolis-St. Paul
11. Chicago
12. Denver
13. Atlanta
14. Tampa-St. Petersburg
15. Seattle
16. Indianapolis
17. Baltimore-Washington
18. St. Louis
19. Nashville
20. Phoenix
21. Charlotte
22. New Orleans
23. Salt Lake City
24. Pittsburgh
25. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.
26. Toronto
27. Cincinnati
28. Kansas City
29. Milwaukee
30. Memphis


For the full list, go
here-
http://archive.sportingnews.com/feat.../fulllist.html

[Meck77]

Originally Posted by bendog

I heard San Diego's mayor said something about the team should settle on a site for a new stadium in San Diego, or it should be free to move on. I sort of get the feeling the chargers will just move North. But, I don't see the necessity of a new stadium being in LA or even Orange County. The friggin city seems to go halfway to Phoenix nowdays.

Actually in this article it says that if they can't strike a deal by January the Chargers are free to seek a new location and could be play in another city after the 2008 seasonhttp://www.signonsandiego.com/uniont...s26canepa.html

[Jason in LA]

Originally Posted by Drek

So basically they're going to ask the NFL for $800M? Renovate a stadium for about three or four times what Kraft spent on building the very beautiful Gillette Stadium?

I'm sure teh city of L.A. would want it to remain their property, with USC and various other events allowed to play there as well.

****, talk about wanting to have your cake and eat it too. This is why the NFL will not return to L.A. without a big money owner forcing himself in. The NFL isn't going to spend **** to relocate a team, they're in the driver's seat here, being that they are the most popular sport across the U.S. right now. If L.A. thinks its a great sports city it should pony up and make the financial commitment themselves ,most every other city has.

The truth is that neither side is in the drivers seat, because neither side needs each other.

The NFL doesn't need a team in LA. If they did there would have been a team here a long time ago. The ratings here are through the roof because there are no black out rules, and we get what ever the top games are. If there was a team here I'd say the TV ratings would go down because the home team would have to be shown.

LA doesn't need a team. Like I've said twice now, USC has a higher attendence than any NFL team, and UCLA is just below the NFL average. People are getting their football fix. It's rare that both teams play a home game on the same day, but when it happens, a good 150,000 attend football games on that day.

LA isn't some cowtown that needs the NFL to put itself on the map. That's why tax payers here will never vote to flip the bill on the stadium. A place like Jacksonville needed the NFL, and they paid top dollar. Team's can't hold the city for ransome like they can in other cities. How many owners have threatened to move if they didn't get a new stadium? Pat Bowlen even did it. In LA, go ahead and threaten to move. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

If the NFL returns, it's either going to be a rich owner, or the NFL that flips the bill. We'll find out who needs who more. If the NFL is willing to pay that bill, that shows that they really want a team here.

From the reports that I've read, it will pretty much be a new stadium. They'll keep the torch area, and build a new stadium around it. The big issue have been these damn historians who want to keep the outter walls. I don't get why. The problem is that the stadium is too damn big. The walls on the opposite end of the field needs to come in a lot. This stadium was built for track, which was huge around the time it was built. The stadium had two tracks. A 400 meter and 800 meter track. That's why the infield is so big. They need to bring in the other end of the field a lot.

[Hogan11]

Originally Posted by bendog

I heard San Diego's mayor said something about the team should settle on a site for a new stadium in San Diego, or it should be free to move on. I sort of get the feeling the chargers will just move North. But, I don't see the necessity of a new stadium being in LA or even Orange County. The friggin city seems to go halfway to Phoenix nowdays.

They originally came from LA anyways...if the Chargers moved there, they'd just be going home.

[boltaneer]

According to the Chargers ownership, they've stated they wish to remain in San Diego and are going to be looking into stadium options outside the city of San Diego but still within the county. There are a couple of cities that are interested in building a stadium for the Chargers.

[Bob's your Information Minister]

Originally Posted by 24champbailey

LA is ranked number three-
http://www.sportsfansofamerica.com/I...ans/Cities.htm

Sporting News has LA number 5

Best Sports Cites:
1. Boston
2. Oakland-San Francisco-San Jose
3. New York-Long Island-New Jersey
4. Houston
5. Los Angeles-Anaheim
6. Miami-Fort Lauderdale
7. Detroit
8. Dallas-Fort Worth
9. Philadelphia
10. Minneapolis-St. Paul
11. Chicago
12. Denver
13. Atlanta
14. Tampa-St. Petersburg
15. Seattle
16. Indianapolis
17. Baltimore-Washington
18. St. Louis
19. Nashville
20. Phoenix
21. Charlotte
22. New Orleans
23. Salt Lake City
24. Pittsburgh
25. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.
26. Toronto
27. Cincinnati
28. Kansas City
29. Milwaukee
30. Memphis


For the full list, go
here-
http://archive.sportingnews.com/feat.../fulllist.html

Wow. That list is a total joke.

[Jason in LA]

Originally Posted by broncocalijohn

LA doesnt deserve the team. Anaheim has a much better proposition for the NFL and is a better location. OC is cool. LA is so disgusting. I try not to go pass the LBC unless i am attending a Southern California game at the Coliseum.

There's not much difference between LA and Anaheim sports fan. It's all the same area. Ton of transplants.

The NFL isn't going to spend $800 million to put a team 35 miles outside of LA. Doesn't make sense. I haven't heard a good argument for that to happen. There's a reason why LA has 8 teams, and Anaheim has 2. The Clippers had a chance to move out of the crappy Sports Arena, and move into the newly built Anaheim Pond. This was before there were even plans for the Staple Center. The Clippers decided to stay in their dump rather than move out to Anaheim. Looks like they made the smart move.

Even the owner of the Angles knows the deal. They are "Los Angeles" now. It won't be too long before the "Anaheim" is dropped off all together.

Most people in LA try to aviod going down to Anaheim, unless they are going to Disneyland. I have to go down their every weekend to shoot little league baseball. It's too bland. Everything looks the same. Drives me nuts.

[Master___Pain]

Originally Posted by boltaneer

According to the Chargers ownership, they've stated they wish to remain in San Diego and are going to be looking into stadium options outside the city of San Diego but still within the county. There are a couple of cities that are interested in building a stadium for the Chargers.

Where? Poway? Seems like you'd have go East or North East somewhere off 15 to find the dirt.

[Breck Bronc]

Originally Posted by Jason in LA

I don't have too much time right now to explain why LA is a great sports town. I'll get into detail about that later. For now, I'll just say a few things.

If we went by attendence, LA outdraws every other city. Just to compare LA to the biggest sports market, New York, the Dodgers and Angles out draw the Yankees and Mets, and just aobut anybody else. The Lakers and Clippers out draw the the Knicks and Nets, and just about everybody else. UCLA and USC football draw about the same amount of people as the Jets and Giants. USC out draws every NFL team. UCLA football is just below the NFL average, and out draws a number of NFL teams.

How many other cities have two major college programs? And both get good attendence.

LA is a great sports town. There is no question about that.

The Angels and Dodgers do not outdraw the Yankees. Nobody has outdrawn the Yankees since Seattle did earlier this decade. The Dodgers and Angels have outdrawn the Mets in the past few years, though. The Angels were bottom of the barrel until 2002. Give them credit for changing the Big A and putting a competitive team on the field. If the Mets keep playing like they have so far this season they'll be 1-2 with the Yankees.

Neither the Lakers nor the Clippers have had a higher average attendance this decade than the Knicks. The Clippers aren't even close.

It's almost impossible to compare NFL attendance in a 79,000 seat stadium vs. NCAA football attendance in huge venues like the LA Coliseum and Rose Bowl. The Giants and Jets have ranked in the top 4 in NFL attendance every year this decade, including a couple of #1 finishes. USC and UCLA football have varied wildly as a gate attraction while the Jets and Giants sell out every year.

Giants Attendance:
2001: 78,000
2002: 79,000
2003: 79,000
2004: 79,000
2005: 79,000

Jets Attendance:
2001: 78,000
2002: 79,000
2003: 78,000
2004: 78,000
2005: 77,000

USC Attendance:
1998: 57,000
1999: 57,000
2000: 57,000
2001: 58,000
2002: 67,000
2003: 78,000
2004: 85,000
2005: 91,000

UCLA Attendance:
1998: 74,000
1999: 50,000
2000: 67,000
2001: 65,000
2002: 65,000
2003: 57,000
2004: 60,000
2005: 64,000

USC and UCLA probably have the same number of hard core fans and the rest is filled out by bandwagoners that jump to the hot team. The 2003-2005 Trojans might have had the biggest bandwagon in sports history.

The Los Angeles Kings have pretty good fans, though they don't outdraw the New York Rangers. The one chink in New York's armor is the New York Islanders. They play in a terrible building and don't draw well. The Ducks and Isles are pretty similar in attendance.

Los Angeles isn't a bad sports market. It isn't great, either, and does not compare to New York like you posited.