Is Al Davis headed back to Los Angeles?
Two NFL games were blacked out today because the home teams could not sell out their stadiums.
If you have the misfortune of living in Oakland and being a Raiders fan, perhaps it was a saving grace that the game against the Denver Broncos was blacked out. It might be fun to see Al David having a meltdown when his Raiders get punked by the hated Broncos, but it can’t be fun to watch such horrible football, live or on television.
The other team that got blacked out was the equally unfortunate Detroit Lions. And they actually won their game – but their fans were deprived of watching them beat the lame Washington Redskins on T.V.
There have been three blackouts this year so far, including the Jacksonville Jaguars in week two. In this environment, a group of Los Angeles based developers want to bring an NFL stadium to the City of Industry. Is that a good idea? Really?
“The city of Walnut “agreed to drop its lawsuit challenging the construction of a proposed NFL stadium” in neighboring City of Industry in return for $9M, an “annual cash payment and assurances that traffic and noise will be controlled,” according to the L.A. Business Journal.
The force behind the drive to build an NFL stadium in the City of Industry is a company named Majestic Realty.
“Its chairman and CEO, Ed Roski Jr., is an ex-Marine who turned the successful commercial real estate brokerage that his father founded into one of the nation’s biggest industrial property developers, making himself a billionaire in the process,” according to the L.A. Times.
Should the current spate of NFL blackouts worry Roski and company? You bet.
“But the Raiders’ failure to sell out a game against their traditional division rivals, the Denver Bronocs, is a sign that the bum economy’s impact on the league is real, even if recent Raiders-Bronocs match-ups haven’t measured up to the days of Lyle Alzado chasing down Ken Stabler,” according to Forbes.
If we get a current NFL team to move to the City of Industry, it is likely to be a team that sucks, like the Raiders. Or we might get lucky and get the Chargers – which would such for the good people of San Diego. In either case, if that team cannot sell out its tickets in what is sure to be a very high-priced new stadium, guess what? Blackouts will deprive the locals of FREE NFL games on T.V.
Personally I rather watch the NFL on T.V. I have Tivo so I can pause the game, come back and forward through the commercials. I did that today in fact during the Minnesota game. And I was able to pause and rewind to watch the amazing game-winning touchdown from the ever-reliable Brett Favre.
Why would I want to go pay a ton of money to sit in the sun and have to pay ten bucks for a lousy beer? No thanks!
Will the NFL consider changing their current blackout policy? Not a chance!
“The NFL says it has no plans to lift its blackout rules because of the economy. So if games don’t sell out – as could be the case in up to three cities this weekend – local fans won’t be able to watch on TV, whether at home or in a bar,” according to the Albany Herald.
So why does Roski want to bring a new stadium and NFL team to L.A.? Probably ego, but he also argues that the new stadium would bring a lot of jobs and revenue to an area that is struggling economically right now.
“According to Semcken and union officials who support the development, Majestic’s football stadium project will create 12,000 construction jobs and 6,732 permanent positions in the 1.4 million square feet of office space, 1.1 million square feet of retail and a 100,000-square-foot orthopedic medicine facility that will stand alongside the football facility,” according to the L.A. Times.
Be careful what you wish for. I suspect the locals will end up with LESS football and will have to put up with NFL T.V. blackouts. That will be especially true if the dreadful Raiders end up back in town.
And the good people of Walnut may yet come to rue the deal their City Council struck with Roski. Time will tell. One thing is certain – Roski is used to getting his way. God help anyone who tries to stop him…
i myself dont want a team here . i like the way it is we get 3 games every sunday . if we had a local team we would get 2 and i dont think the new team would sell out every game thus the blackout rule will be enforced .
Seriously, not the Raiders…Please!!!!
The LA Area is interesting in that we don’t need a football team. Nobody is really FROM LA, people just want to go and watch teams from where they are from! Try and Angels or Dodgers game when the Yanks or Boston come to town! Seriously it would be WAY Worse with a brnad new NFL Team!….Just a waste of money, and I’m sure the City will use taxpayers money!