Pro Football in Lost Angeles?

[scottmandue]

I work at Exposition park at the science museum and just a stones throw from where I am typing this is the historical Olympic Colosseum.

I'm hearing once again the NFL is thinking of bringing football back to LA (not a big surprise seeing how much money is here).

For those not in the area the big debate about getting the NFL back here is do we build a new stadium (billions and billions of dollars) or refurb (again) the Colosseum (1925 vintage).

As much as I like the idea of saving the money by using ye old Colosseum it has some big problems.
1. Although this part of town has made great improvements it still is thought of by most people as being "the hood"
2. Parking sucks
3. Traffic - even though it is right next to the freeway the street are poor at best, when a USC football game gets out it can take hours to go a few blocks to get on the freeway.
3. Parking sucks (BTW by the virtue of working here I have a free pass to the underground parking structure)
4. It is a historical structure/location and thus any talk of altering it brings loud criticism from those people that love historical buildings.
5. Parking sucks (Also BTW when a USC football game is here all vacant lots become parking lots where the cost escalate as kickoff time approaches. Starting around $20 an hour before the game to $60-$75 as the game starts.)
6. Even though it has been updated several time the "Facilities" (bathrooms/vendor areas/seats) are still rather vintage.

Seeing as we are one of the wealthiest cities in the U S of A and even the world it seems like a no brainier that we should get a new stadium but dayum it is going to be expensive!

Comments?

[mattdavis11]

Just because Vince Young beat USC single handedly doesn't constitute the kolliseaem being historical. Hysterical, maybe.

Pave it.

Yes, I remember 1984.

I think your are overreacting. LA doesn't even have a pro football team, why the need?

[Mule]

I hear Atlanta has an available "franchise" quarterback.

[nostatic]

screw football. I don't want to pay for a new stadium, and the last thing we need is more traffic. In fact, we should kick all the pro sports out of town. Now there's an idea...

[scottmandue]

Originally posted by mattdavis11
Just because Vince Young beat USC single handedly doesn't constitute the kolliseaem being historical. Hysterical, maybe.

Pave it.

Yes, I remember 1984.

I think your are overreacting. LA doesn't even have a pro football team, why the need?

Yes but do you remeber 1934? Point being a lot of people do want pro football here (not counting notatic).

From wiki:

The two most notable events to take place at the Coliseum were the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympic Games, where the stadium served as the primary track and field venue and site of the opening and closing ceremonies.

In addition, many events have been held at the Coliseum over the years; below are some of the more notable. For nearly 60 years, it served as the home football stadium for both the USC Trojans (the main campus being across the street) and the UCLA Bruins. In the fall of 1982, with the Oakland Raiders scheduled to move in, UCLA decided to move out, relocating its home games to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. USC's agreement to play all its home games at the Coliseum was a contributing factor to its original construction.

The former Cleveland Rams of the National Football League relocated to the Coliseum in 1946, becoming the Los Angeles Rams; but the team later relocated again, first to Anaheim in 1980, then to St. Louis, Missouri in 1995. The Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference played in the Coliseum from 1946 to 1949, when the conference merged with the NFL and the Dons franchise was folded. In 1960 the American Football League's Los Angeles Chargers played at the Coliseum before relocating to San Diego the next year.

Each of the three games of the 1959 World Series played there drew over 92,706 fans, a record unlikely to be challenged anytime soon, given the smaller seating capacities of today's baseball parks. A May 1959 exhibition game between the Dodgers and the New York Yankees in honor of legendary catcher Roy Campanella drew 93,103, the largest crowd ever to see a baseball game in the Western Hemisphere. The Coliseum also hosted the second 1959 MLB All-Star Game. Also, from baseball's point of view, the locker rooms were huge, because they were designed for football (not baseball) teams.

The Coliseum was also the site of John F. Kennedy's memorable acceptance speech at the 1960 Democratic National Convention. It was during that speech that Kennedy first used the term "the New Frontier."

The Rams hosted the 1949, 1951 and the 1955 NFL championship games at the Coliseum. The Coliseum was the site of the very first NFL-AFL Championship Game in January 1967, an event since renamed the Super Bowl. It also hosted the Super Bowl in 1973. The venue was also the site of the NFL Pro Bowl from 1951-1972 and again in 1979.

[tabs]

Glad I won't have to pay for it.

[Hugh R]

Pro sports is a big scam to cities. Most of the players don't live in the city (Beverly Hills is not Los Angeles), the city gets some revenues from parking and concessions for what, a few security guard type paying jobs on a weekend or two a month.

[89911]

Wow, with this brief, unscientific poll just by the replies, It's not hard to see why it fails there. You can't start up a team and have any tradition. That just takes time and a strong fan base, neither of which (unless you count rooting for your favorite home town team you left behind), they have out there. Go Steelers!

[Shuie]

Be happy the Raiders are not threatening to come back this year

[nostatic]

we've got other things to do here...like hug trees and stuff

[jim72911t]

LA already has a pro football team............

USC

[JavaBrewer]

I went to one Charger game this season breaking a 6 year NFL hiatus. I could not believe how many drunken brawls I saw even though it seemed security/Police were in every section of the stadium. Lots of trailer park seem to enjoy Sunday football...at least here in SD. No way will I bring my family to an NFL game. As for me I'm officially back on hiatus

[Porsche-O-Phile]

If the NFL ever did bring a team back to LA (they won't) I wouldn't go to a game anyway - at least not in the coliseum. Yes, it's in the hood, traffic sucks and it's absurd to park around that, exactly as scottmandue said. I'd rather take the drive to San Diego or Arizona, personally than deal with wasting an entire weekend sitting in *****ty LA traffic and paying a fortune for the "privilege" of doing so.

No thanks.

[89911]

There are a lot of negatives to attending any big function in a large city. But I've got a lot of great, great memories attending football games. If your not a fan, it won't matter. If you are a football fan, there is nothing like being in a stadium of 60,000 fans going crazy. Great thing about where I live is that I can leave the game and be at home in the suburbs 25 minutes later.

[tonypeoni]

You can have the Colts.

[Sonic dB]

The NFL wants a team here, and they are the biggest and most profitable
sports machine out there. Count on it happening. As mentioned, the
Colliseum is ancient and not in a great area at all. They were looking
at Carson for awhile, but that is out, and I heard that OC may be an
option. The NFL wants it, and its going to happen. As long as the team
is competitive, they will draw enough fans to support it. The market is
too large to not have an NFL team.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

If they can build a new stadium completely funded with PRIVATE money (i.e. not a single dollar of taxpayer money), put it in a decent area that's not a hopeless ghetto, guarantee ample parking for 100,000+ cars and prove using modern traffic modeling method that they can get 'em all cleared out in an hour or less after a game, I'd consider going. Maybe.

Other than that, I'll do what I usually do and WALK (translation: no driving, no sitting in traffic and no paying to park) to my local bar and enjoy it on their 60" LCD screens for the price of a beer I enjoy anyway.

Why I should pay a fortune to sit in traffic, spend a fortune to sit in some crappy nosebleed seat and watch the game on TV anyway (usually a jumbotron) is beyond me. Same reason I don't really go to concerts anymore. I don't see the $$$ being worth it. I can get the same entertainment value at home or locally for 1/100 the cost.