The Jaguars - NFL Relocations and the LA Stadium Plan

[Wacca Pilatka]

Khan's "ties to St. Louis" are vastly overrated.  He lives and has his business in Illinois a couple of hours from St. Louis, but that's it.  He's tied to St. Louis no more than a Jacksonville resident is tied to Savannah.  His son lives in Jacksonville.  He tried to purchase the Rams because they were for sale, not because of a special affinity or personal bond with St. Louis.

No ill will toward St. Louis intended in that comment.  Just getting annoying how sportswriters are now trying to stir this pot after their Jaguars to Los Angeles delusions died out.

As for Portland, Las Vegas, and OKC,
- Portland has ideal NFL market size but nothing resembling an NFL stadium, and I would imagine, no desire to build one (witness the recent brouhaha in Portland over building an MLS stadium).  It also has two pro sports franchises, many of its residents follow the Seahawks, and showed virtually no interest in its one fling with pro football (the USFL Portland Breakers)
- Las Vegas also has the requisite size and no team in town, but it doesn't have an NFL grade stadium, and goodness knows there are other issues that have kept pro sports from touching Las Vegas
- OKC is only about the size of Jacksonville and already has a pro team.  Its only venue that's NFL sized (the Sooners' stadium in Norman) is not NFL grade and is well south of the center of population and growth for the area

[FlaBoy]

I think the Rams returning to LA is a good thing. In a perfect world, the Raiders would have moved to LA and the Rams would have stayed in STL but that was not going to happen with the Davis family being looked upon as so inept these days. The Chargers need to stay in San Diego. Everyone keeps acting as if LA has an appetite for two teams but I don't believe it. The corporate community does and that is what the NFL is after but not the fans. The only way LA should get a second team is if its the Raiders since they already have a fan base in SoCal.

After LA, I think the Raiders could end up in 1) San Antonio 2) Portland 3) STL 4) Las Vegas 5) OKC

I do think STL is a danger to Jax in the next several years with Khan's ties to the area. Other than the pie in the sky London move, STL is the first place I would worry about since a move to STL would not throw off the current allignment either considering STL is close enough to the South and very close to Indy and Nashville.

But again, I think the NFL was very strategic in putting a team here because we are a growing area and the city has been very committed to the team. Everbank is a great facility.

In the end, I think the Chargers stay home or join in Inglewood. The Raiders go to LA, or attempt to go to San Antonio with a plot of land in the suburbs closer to Austin. Jerry Jones will try to block that move (since he owns that area currently). If he is successful, the Raiders would seriously look at STL and Las Vegas, maybe San Diego if the Chargers move.

Oakland has backed out of the LA deal.  As part of backing out, the NFL will give them an additional $200 Million to build a new stadium in Oakland.  They aren't moving. 

Also part of the deal of the Inglewood deal, I believe San Diego is blocked from getting a team for a long time.  Don't want to create a 2 team market in LA and then add another So. Cal team to eat into it.

Oakland is just next in line if the Chargers balk at the LA deal. Can you provide a source on the language concerning SD being blocked? Is this in legal documents or a gentleman's agreement? It kind of doesn't matter anyway since 24 owners can make anything happen unless the NFL contractually binds itself, which I doubt.

[FlaBoy]

Also, Jacksonville is a growing city in the fastest growing state in the country. The Jags need a few winning seasons again to really expand the fan base, but areas like Daytona Beach/Ormond Beach and even into the northeastern parts of the Orlando Metro are accessible to fan growth. Jacksonville will be between the 35th and 38th largest metro in 20 years and that has been the slow play of the NFL since the beginning. They knew Jax was small when they gave the city the Jags, but they also knew the city would keep growing. In 30 years, there will be little difference between the size of the metros of Jacksonville, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Nashville. We will be larger than Cleveland, Buffalo, Milwaukee (always included with Green Bay), and New Orleans.