Competition for Los Angeles football stadium site
The most cynical observers of the Chargers-want-a-new-stadium saga tend to think the Chargers don’t want to stay in San Diego. They’re convinced that none of the team’s attempts to find a new stadium site in the region will succeed, because what they really want is to move up to Los Angeles. The Chargers have said publicly that their first choice would be to remain in San Diego, and they have indeed spent the last two years hunting for a local site. But with the harsh economic realities now upon us, none of the sites they’ve examined seem to be panning out, which means the time may soon come to consider other locations, particularly the enticing privately financed proposal for a Los Angeles stadium put out by billionaire developer Ed Roski. But the Chargers may not even be the front runners for the Roski’s site. The Twin Cities Press reports today that Roski has been reaching out to the ownership of the Minnesota Vikings since summer 2008 in the hopes of bringing the Purple People Eaters to California.
The Vikings’ ownership has been frustrated in their attempts to get a mostly publicly financed stadium built in the Twin Cities. They’ve offered to put up $250 million of an $800 million proposal, but they feel stonewalled by Minnesota government. Nevertheless, they still have months to complete negotiations, so Vikings ownership has been politely declining to talk to Roski. Still, the whole thing puts some pressure on the Chargers to either make a deal in San Diego or to pack up and head north, where the football void has yawned since the Raiders and Rams left after the 1994 season.
