Report: Chargers, Raiders Moving Forward On $1.7b Shared Stadium In Los Angeles

Per Sam Farmer at the LA Times:

The San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders, rivals on the field, are moving forward together on a plan to build a $1.7-billion NFL stadium in Carson that they will share.

The Chargers and Raiders will continue to seek public subsidies for new stadiums in their home markets, but they are developing a detailed proposal for a privately financed Los Angeles venue in the event they can't get deals done in San Diego and Oakland by the end of this year, according to the teams.

Los Angeles is the best bargaining chip for any franchise trying to upgrade their stadium situation. As Stan Kroenke continues to pull on the lever of leverage (words!), he's forcing St. Louis to play catch up...and significantly hurting the Chargers and Raiders in their own stadium battles with the cities of San Diego and Oakland, respectively.

Kroenke's plan is, on timeline alone, a bit ahead of this proposal, but that doesn't really address the key issue for the Chargers and owner Alex Spanos: market share.

As the report states, the Chargers estimate that a full quarter of their fan base is located in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Spanos knows that his Chargers, purchased for less than $50 million and now worth roughly a full billion (which in Drake bands is...a lot), would take a huge hit on existing profitability but also on potential business growth if a new team outside of the California belt (and certainly outside of SoCal) carves a pie up to include another slice.

So now as Rams fans continue to keep an eye on Hollywood Park, they'll also need to keep the spot a bit south in Carson in mind as this story moves along.