Tuesday’s story (July 29th) on Yahoo sports about Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys owner) dismissing the relocation of the Pittsburgh Steelers to Los Angeles appears to be smoke and mirrors. Anonymous insiders say Edward Roski Jr secretly met with Investor Stanley Druckenmiller just this past weekend in Las Vegas to discuss terms for the team’s relocation to Los Angeles.
On July 7th, 2008, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported the current Steelers ownership group announced plans to sell controlling interest of the team to comply with NFL ownership regulations. Four of the five Rooney brothers that own the Steelers have decided to sell their interests in the team to further pursue their interests in the race tracks they own in New York and Florida. Because these race tracks and gambling interests have violated league rules since 2006, the league is forcing the sale.
On July 11th, 2008, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller was in negotiations for purchasing the team shares belonging to the Rooney brothers. Coach Tomlin was quoted as saying,” the situation could become a distraction for the team.”
In April of this year developer Edward Roski announced plans to build a NFL stadium 20 miles outside Los Angeles. Roski, part owner of the LA Lakers and Kings has already completed environmental impact studies with construction likely to begin as soon as the fall of 2008. Unique in stadium financing is the $800 million dollar facility will be totally privately financed requiring no public money. The Los Angeles Stadium will have a seating capacity of 75,000 people and feature all the modern amenities that current NFL stadiums contain.
Other teams mentioned in the media that could potentially relocate to LA Stadium include: the ST Louis Rams, the San Francisco 49ers, the Minnesota Vikings, Jacksonville Jaguars, and the San Diego Chargers. At this time though it appears the Pittsburgh Steelers have the jump on all other teams in negotiations. The question I ask of the readers today is: if this relocation comes to fruition should the Los Angeles Steelers still be called the Steelers? If not, what new name would you suggest?
I have been a Seahawk and Mariner Fan since they were established. I have coached and managed youth sports for many years. As a kid my favorite sports to play was football and basketball. One of my first jobs out of college was a sports correspondent , I guess I never really got this out of system, which has led me sports blogging. I have adopted the Trialblazers for my basketball team since the Sonics have been stolen by a rich Oakkee. Maybe Starbucks will pull a rabbit out the hat and I can go back to rooting for Sonics: yeah, I know I am a dreamer too. I have a wonderful family that supports my sports addiction.
