Art Rooney II expects an NFL vote on Los Angeles in January
Art Rooney II, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, visits the sidelines during warm ups before a game against the 49ers.
Reporting from NEW YORK — Art Rooney II, whose family owns the Pittsburgh Steelers, is soft-spoken, even-keeled and serious. He’s not given to hyperbole or bold predictions.
He’s also the chairman of the NFL’s Committee on Los Angeles Opportunities, so when he has something to say about the nation’s second-largest market, people around the league listen.
On Wednesday, at the conclusion of the league’s one-day fall owners meetings at the Waldorf Astoria hotel, the influential owner expressed confidence that the tortured path back to L.A. will reach a conclusion in January with a vote of his peers.
“We need to take a vote and see what the result is,” Rooney said. “I think there will be a vote.”
Rooney believes the three teams backing two competing stadium plans in L.A. — the San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders and St. Louis Rams — will all file for relocation at the end of the season, setting up a vote in January.
However, Eric Grubman, the NFL executive vice president who is the point man on L.A., doesn’t think the owners are tied to a vote that early in the year.
“There’s nothing that locks us into January,” he said. “There are any number of scenarios that could emerge. ... Are we so committed to January that we can’t delay? The answer is no. It’s as early as January and we’ve set it up to enable January. But we’re not committed to January.”
If a vote was taken in January or later, that would conflict with the much-discussed groundbreaking schedule of the Inglewood project. Rams owner Stan Kroenke has targeted December as a start date for his project. It’s highly unlikely Kroenke would break ground without getting the green light from the NFL. That could inject a confrontational element into an already politically charged situation.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell echoed Rooney’s prediction of a vote — which would require 24 of the league’s 32 owners to approve a move — but didn’t provide specifics on how the league would handle a potential stalemate between the rival plans.
For the record: An earlier version of this report said that St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke had transferred ownership of the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets to his wife, Ann. Kroenke transferred ownership of the NHL and NBA teams to a family trust. See update at bottom for more information.
The commissioner described the six-member L.A. committee as “very active” and quipped that the league has “almost exhausted them already.”
Owners are scheduled to meet again in December in Dallas.
Removing a hurdle
The cross-ownership complications of Kroenke are over.
The league’s Finance Committee informed ownership Wednesday that Kroenke has met the requirements of cross-ownership with his plan, which allows him to retain ownership of the Rams, and transfers ownership of the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche to a family trust. The Nuggets and the Avalanche will be run by the Kroenkes’ son, Josh.
Under league rules, an owner cannot own an NFL team in one city and another pro sports franchise in another NFL city (or potential NFL city, such as Los Angeles). That’s because the league doesn’t want NFL owners competing with each other for sports/entertainment dollars in the same city.
For those reading tea leaves on the L.A. situation, the fact that Kroenke got the thumbs up is noteworthy because his cross-ownership situation had been viewed as an irritant among some owners. With that behind him, it removes one of the hurdles in his path to a potential relocation to L.A.
Owner versus owner
One of the significant challenges for the NFL in sorting out the Los Angeles situation is it involves pitting owner against owner, with business partners who normally work in relative harmony backing competing stadium sites in Inglewood and Carson.
The league has gone to great lengths to ensure competition between owners takes place mainly on the field, not for the sports dollar in a given city. Hence, the cross-ownership rules, which preclude someone from owning an NFL team and a different pro sports franchise in another U.S. city.
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said the league is going to try to avoid turning the race for L.A. into a popularity contest among those owners considering a move.
“As owners, personal friendships come into play,” Irsay said. “But in business, mistakes are often made if they’re led by emotion. You have to be very thoughtful.
“I know each one wants to work it out at home. As owners, if we have to end up sorting it out and voting for two out of the three, that may be how it gets resolved. But hopefully there will be a lot of discussion behind the scenes where it works out that all parties are happy.”
Name game
National Car Rental secured the naming rights to the proposed riverfront stadium in St. Louis on Wednesday, pledging $158 million over 20 years. The agreement hinges on an NFL team — the city is fighting to keep the Rams — playing in the venue.
The move wasn’t well-received by some in the NFL, however. They were puzzled that the deal was announced while league owners were meeting and didn’t view the $7.9-million-per-year accord as particularly lucrative.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones jabbed the deal in a conversation with the Sports Business Journal, saying the amount “would buy a lobby” in an L.A. stadium.
The last time naming rights were sold for a proposed NFL stadium, Farmers Insurance pledged $700 million over 20 years for AEG’s project in downtown L.A.
AEG abandoned the project — known as Farmers Field — earlier this year.
Neither of the current proposed stadiums in L.A. have sold naming rights.
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