By Jaboner Jackson 2:30 p.m. | After an extended stay in Brazil (Brasil) during which much has changed in the world of the NFL in LA, I have returned to the City of Angels. Since my departure to Rio de Janeiro almost a year ago, Farmers Field has imploded, Los Angeles Stadium has failed to gain momentum, and Brazil has put up more sporting facilities than the entire Southland combined. Coincidence? I think not. Accordingly, it is time to update our patient Wonderful Readers on the NFL in LA. Today, FOOTBALLPHDS reviews what has gone wrong with the NFL in LA during my absence. In Part 2, we look to the future of the NFL in LA. Finally, we close out Part 3 with a leisurely stroll through my (almost) year in Brazil, including updates on all of our Intelligent Staff and the stadium boom occurring in the plastic surgery capital of the world.
Is Farmers Field dead?
Yes, Farmers Field is effectively dead. In fact, it has been dead since shortly after my departure to Brazil last year.
What went wrong with Farmers Field? Didn't you guys anoint Farmers as the future home of Los Angeles football?
The bottom line for Farmers Field was that the cost outlays for building a stadium in downtown Los Angeles and securing an NFL tenant made the entire proposition a vanity project at best. The stadium never made financial sense, either to Philip Anschutz, the owner of AEG, or the NFL. With real world costs of building the stadium approaching $2 billion and valuation of an NFL tenant approaching $1 billion, adding Farmers Field to Anschutz's entertainment and sports holdings would have eclipsed any suitable debt structures.
Accordingly, Anschutz attempted to secure an NFL team--the San Diego Chargers--at a below market valuation, using the argument that the Chargers would not have to invest any money into the building of the stadium as an enticement. Both the NFL and Spanos family understandably balked.
The infightings at AEG also took a toll on Farmers Field. Los Angeles Mayor (and Cheshire Cat) Antonio Villaraigosa and the LA City Council believed the Kool-Aid that AEG and Tim Leiweke were selling them--the NFL was interested; Anschutz was prepare to spend ungodly sums of money; and the city's convention center business would be saved by some kind of halo effect. But Leiweke was much more enamored with the possibility of the NFL in LA than was Anschutz. The NFL in LA became more about Anschutz's employee than it did about Anschutz himself.
Accordingly, Anschutz put AEG up for sale, hoping to fetch between $8-10 billion for his wide ranging holdings, which included Staples Center, LA Live, Los Angeles Kings, an equity position in the Los Angeles Lakers, concert promoter Goldenvoice (Coachella Festival), O2 Stadium in London, and many additional high profile sports, entertainment and promotion properties and businesses. Anschutz had grown tired of the prodding of his employees to push the NFL down his throat. After all, Anschutz was the owner. Leiweke was not. And contrary to what Leiweke was always saying, Anschutz was never going to simply write a check for the NFL.
But bids in the $8-10 billion range for AEG never materialized. AEG has always been a collection of oftentimes disparate and barely interconnected entertainment and sports divisions, built on the back of Leiweke's deal making. Prospective buyers were not interested in owning both Goldenvoice and the Kings. Synergies were mostly nonexistent and suitors had difficulty truly valuing AEG's businesses, particularly since yearly cash flow for the sum of AEG's businesses ended up being only in the $350 million range.
According to sources, Leiweke urged Anschutz to consider the lower bids, especially since Leiweke now viewed Anschutz as an impediment to the NFL in LA. Anschutz rightly let Leiweke know that Leiweke had no say whatsoever in the sale of AEG. Anschutz was the owner; Leiweke became an ex-employee.
So Tim Leiweke is gone from AEG. Anschutz says he is still dedicated to getting the NFL. What about that?
If the NFL plopped in his lap, Anschutz would of course be amenable. But the NFL is not coming back without a lot of ego stroking, politicking, and financial inducements, and so Anschutz is not interested in the NFL in its current day incarnation. Farmers is dead, Wonderful Readers.
Okay, Farmers Field is dead. What about Los Angeles Stadium in City of Industry?
LA Stadium in Industry has never gained traction with the NFL. Aside from financial considerations--the tenant would be responsible for financing LA Stadium--the NFL has never liked the Industry site itself. NFL executives have never been the most adventurous. And they simply could not see Industry as being enough "LA" for them. We were hoping the NFL would see the sense that the Industry site made for the Southland as a whole but the NFL executives proved that they truly are not FOOTBALLPHDS. The NFL missed out an excellent opportunity by scorning LA Stadium. The site was zoned and ready for groundbreaking.
Chargers are staying in San Diego?
Yes, by default. But there is no stadium on the horizon for our brethren to the south either. The Chargers are not getting a new stadium in San Diego any time soon.
Rams are not coming back to LA?
No, not this decade.
Raiders are not coming back to LA, either?
Mark Davis cannot even get his football team in order, putting together an expansion quality roster under GM Reggie McKenzie for this upcoming year, much less orchestrate a new stadium in Los Angeles. The Raiders are remaining in Oakland.
So what does all of this bode for the future of stadiums in general in the NFL?
We'll get to that in Part 2, Wonderful Readers.
***
In Part 2, we look to the future of the NFL in LA, particularly as it relates to the rest of the league, including the Chargers, Raiders, and Rams. Finally, in Part 3, I tear back the curtain on my year in Brazil and track down some of our Intelligent Staff.
Do not forget to read the only NFL Mock Draft that matters--Rock Mayock has the picks here. And it does not matter that the Draft is about to start. Rock is the only PhD in Radio City Music Hall. Grab a Firestone Velvet Oatmeal Stout and enjoy the way the draft should have gone.
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