Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney expects the St. Louis Rams, San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders all to apply for relocation in Los Angeles in January, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
This means that fans in San Diego, Oakland and St. Louis are all expecting their teams to try to leave them come next season. The period for filing paperwork to relocate the teams ends in January, and Rooney - as well as other owners - are expecting a resolution to come by then.
This news comes out after National Car Rental has agreed to name a prospective new stadium in St. Louis, but the new stadium would reportedly cost taxpayers $215 million more than originally expected. This news likely helps Rams owner Stan Kroenke get closer to his goal of moving his team to Los Angeles.
On Wednesday, NFL owners approved of Kroenke's plan to switch ownership of the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche to his wife Ann Walton Kroenke, according Nathan Fenno and Sam Farmer of latimes.com. The approval allows Kroenke to retain ownership of the Rams, and likely removes a hurdle he might have to face in moving the team to Los Angeles.
A organization will need 24 "yes" votes to be able to relocate their team, and with three teams competing for one city, it will be interesting to see how it NFL figures this dilemma out.
