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So now we are being told that Larry Ellison is coming to save the day and finally bring a football team to LA. But before we jump on the Oracle founder's bandwagon, let's take a big step back and look at the big picture.In order for Ellison to be involved with the NFL, he needs a team.
While the NFL has said a 33rd expansion team is possible, we know it's not desirable. And if any existing team could move to LA, it's likely that the current owner would want to reap the profits of moving to the nation's second-largest market rather than sell. LAist continues to claim that the Colts are the frontrunners to move here, partially because of Jim Irsay's ties to the music industry. He's not selling. And as much as San Diego fans might pray the "Spanos Goofs" will sell the Chargers, we look at a family who hasn't been fazed for years by criticism stemming from their inept ownership, so we don't see a sale there either.
The Times brings up the Saints, and that's the only team LAist could see Ellison purchasing. Tom Benson has done a lousy job of managing his team's bottom line over the years, and may just want to sell and get out. The Saints also might have an out-clause in their stadium lease if the state of Louisiana continues to fall behind on its maintenance payments for the Superdome.
But before we can even get all hyped up over another potential owner, LA needs to remember the mantra "if you build it, they will come." As soon as a stadium plan is in place, LAist predicts a team will move to SoCal in a matter of minutes. It's a stadium that we need, not an interested Larry Ellison to join an interested Michael Ovitz, Eli Broad, Ed Roski, Ron Burkle, Casey Wasserman, and countless others.
