Sam Farmer of the LA Times did an interview with 1010xl Monday on why the Jags won’t move to LA. 1010xl has the interview available for on-demand listening and I’ve linked to it below.
http://www.stationcaster.com/stations/wjxl/index.php?d=AM# Just click the play now button.
Here’s a compilation of Sam Farmer’s main points.
-San Diego has a new clause with the city where they can leave after January 2009 if no agreement is made on tax payer funded stadium improvements. They are the most likely candidate to move to LA, with St. Louis a close second. Sam notes that no team is likely to move there until the stadium issue is resolved.
-Sam senses apathy for the NFL in the LA marketplace, and notes they have lost two teams already.
-The Jaguars’ stadium deal requires the Jaguars to show three straight years of documented losses to avoid being sued by the city for breach of contract in an attempted move.
-Metropolous apparently made an offer far below the Jaguars’ current value, and would have taken over the team in 3 years. The breakdown is as follows: 30% the first year, 30% the second year and 40% the third year. A measly 750 million was all the supposed mogul could offer. Farmer speculates the reason the offer was so low was that the team would have to stay in Jacksonville even under new ownership, something Metropolous doesn’t want to do, but would for the right price. In other words, even if Weaver sold, the team would have to stay in Jacksonville. I’d imagine that isn’t to appealing to potential suitors, so finding the right successor is a key to Weaver selling. He wants to keep the team here and isn’t ready to release the reins quite yet.
-Metropolous is also on a short list of potential outright buyers for the St. Louis Rams. He has no intentions of being a minority owner; it is clear this guy wants a team of his own.
-LA, and the rest of California to boot, is so riddled with debt that paying for any part of a new stadium is not a possibility. The NFL would have to set a precedent and build a stadium without taxpayer support, and the NFL has no intention of going down that road. No stadium, no team.
-Collin
