Are the Raiders Headed to Los Angeles? What About the Rams?

Ah, Oakland.

The home of Gertrude Stein who, upon her return, remarked, "There is no there there." The lesser known brother home of 1990s West Coast rap with luminaries like MC Hammer, Too $hort and Digital Underground. And yes, Raider Nation.

Well...maybe not.

The Oakland #Raiders have a much better chance of moving to Los Angeles this year than I realized. That possibility is very legitimate.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 10, 2014

Not true RT @IowaRaider78: @RapSheet I thought the only way NFL wld endorse that was if the team was no longer owned by the Davis Family.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 10, 2014

@JustWinBaby26 I learned something new

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 10, 2014

That's NFL Network/.com insider Ian Rapoport, so this isn't a left-field source. I might also point out the timing of this is pretty interesting, since the owners are meeting in Dallas today with NFL Commissioner and Pizza Czar Roger Goodell.

Much of the speculation on the Raiders' potential return to LA reportedly hinges on owner Mark Davis selling the team, a move that Jason La Canfora reported on in September that could net the son of the late Al Davis more than $2 billion. Here are the key pulls from that report:

The NFL will be very careful about who gets that Los Angeles market, and Raiders owner Mark Davis has limitations in real estate, marketing and overall business expertise. Convincing Davis to take a few billion to sell the team to one of the league's short-list of owners-in-waiting -- a list headlined by Larry Ellison, sources said -- would be one way to fast-track getting to that market...

...Even without a stadium solution, selling the Raiders to someone equipped to get them to LA would ensure the price tag gets where the league wants it to be, and some wonder if at some point the headaches and tribulations of trying to get a new stadium eventually would lead to Davis going that route.

So where does that leave the Rams? Much of La Canfora has leaned on his sources telling him that Goodell sees LA as a two-team town and that the Rams are the likely contender as that second franchise.

I'd point out the LA Business Journal reported on Monday that two (unnamed, obviously) NFL teams were looking into a fourth potential site near the 405-110 interchange in Carson, a southern LA suburb between Long Beach and Compton that's home to the LA Galaxy's StubHub Center. This would be a pretty difficult task as the land in question is owned by the county...since it's a landfill. It is, however, conveniently located (though anyone who's taken the 110 through downtown into Pasadena would argue with the term "convenience" here even though I'd argue the 101 is proof that hell exists...), so it would make sense why it would be part of any legitimate exploratory effort on the behalf of any team.

What does it all mean? Not a ton. It just means the story's not going away as long as Los Angelenos continue to watch the NFL season from their couches instead of pouring money into NFL coffers.

As Too $hort himself said...

Now another young buck wants to be on top
Makin' big money, slangin' hop
The task force tryin' ta peel your cap
Turn around, homeboy, ya better watch your back