Schwarzenegger wants two NFL teams in Los Angeles area
By STEPHEN HAWKINS, AP Sports Writer
May 2, 2006
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger responds to a question during a press conference following a meeting with NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue and several NFL team owners at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Grapevine, Texas, Tuesday, May 2, 2006.
GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday he wants the NFL to return to the Los Angeles area -- with two teams.
After meeting with a group of NFL owners, Schwarzenegger said he was there to make sure "we're getting not only one NFL team to the Los Angeles area, Southern California, but to actually get two teams. That's why I came. Why limit it?"
NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue and a committee of 11 owners met to hear proposals from Los Angeles and Anaheim. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle were there to make separate presentations but joined the governor for a joint session.
"There is enough room and enough audience to have two teams," Schwarzenegger said. "We just have to all work together and make it happen."
Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest television market, has been without an NFL team since the Raiders and Rams both left after the 1994 season. When the NFL expanded in 2002, the new team went to Houston after Los Angeles leaders couldn't agree on a suitable site for the team.
New York Giants chairman Steve Tisch, a longtime Los Angeles resident who is on the committee, said it was unlikely two teams would be added in Southern California at the same time.
"I'd be shocked if the suggestion internally to recommend two teams ever comes up. I think the numbers are too big. I think it would be an overwhelming suggestion," Tisch said. "Over time, possibly."
Tagliabue, who is retiring in July, has long made it a priority to get a franchise back in Los Angeles.
The owners' committee, which includes Dan Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys and Bob Kraft of the New England Patriots, planned to hear stadium proposals from the Anaheim and Los Angeles officials. The cost estimates of $800 million are considerably higher than previous price tags.
Anaheim's plan calls for a new facility near Angel Stadium, which was converted to a baseball-only complex after the Rams left. The NFL team and the Los Angeles Angels had shared the stadium.
The Los Angeles plan is to construct a stadium inside the existing Los Angeles Coliseum, home to the Rams from 1946-70 and the Raiders from 1982-94.
The NFL owners' group won't make any decisions on the proposals during their meeting at a Dallas-Fort Worth Airport hotel. Instead, the group will make a presentation at the league's spring meetings in Denver, scheduled May 22-24.
After Schwarzenegger and the two mayors emerged from a 10-minute meeting with the owners, the governor chatted in the hallway with Jones, the Cowboys' owner.
The governor returned to Los Angeles immediately afterward. The individual presentations by the cities were later in the day.
