Edward P. Roskie, Jr ... part owner of the NBA Lakers and NHL Kings ... is the latest in the long line of rich dudes wanting to bring the NFL back to Los Angeles. Roskie has scheduled a news conference at the Staples Center for Thursday where he's promising a "major announcement":On Thursday, Roski will unveil his latest concept for a stadium in the City of Industry, near the southern intersection of the 57 and 60 freeways some 20 miles east of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site Wednesday.
The stadium would be surrounded by a high-end shopping mall, already in the works, the newspaper said.
The Rams and Raiders left the LA area in 1995 and the NFL has never been back. Oh, others have tried to figure out some way to bring the nation's top league to the nation's second largest market but they all failed.
I will give Roskie this: he was instrumental in getting the Staples Center built. Current tenants (Lakers, Kings, Clippers) were stuck in old facilities.
However, California isn't one to just build a stadium/arena. The Raiders and Athletics play in old McAfee Coliseum (it was gutted and remodeled), Warriors in Oracle Arena (gutted, remodeled), Angels in Angels Stadium (gutted, remodeled), Chargers in old Qualcomm Stadium, Dodgers in old Dodger Stadium, 49ers in Candlestick Park and SacKings in outdated ARCO Arena.
The Chargers, 49ers and SacKings are desperately trying to get new venues. The only notable differences are the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park and the tenants of Staples Center.
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