PHOENIX — New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft says he believes the NFL will have two teams in the Los Angeles area within the next year.
“I don’t think it’s good that we’ve let a generation of fans, young kids, grow up without a team. It’s not good for the NFL,” Kraft said at the NFL owners’ meetings in Phoenix. “I really believe within the next year we’ll have two teams in this market. … We have some real good options.”
He didn’t say which teams might wind up there, although speculation is the St. Louis Rams, San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders are prime candidates.
St. Louis owner Stan Kroenke has designed a Los Angeles-area stadium for two clubs — with two home locker rooms, identical sets of office space and two owners’ suites.
Kroenke doesn’t need to partner with a second team to finance the $1.86 billion venue in Inglewood, but the league considers Los Angeles a two-team market and wants a stadium that could accommodate both, the Los Angeles Times reported.
His plan competes with one by the Chargers and Raiders, who have announced plans for a $1.7 billion stadium in suburban Carson if they don’t get new stadiums in their current hometowns.
A team or teams moving to Los Angeles presumably would play at the Coliseum or Rose Bowl until a new stadium was built.
“There might just be one team, but I really think to support the financial commitment of doing the kind of stadium that’s necessary in LA, you need the resources of two teams,” Kraft said.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
