The NFL relocation decision is coming soon, and lines between NFL owners are reportedly being drawn, as St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke reportedly may have the nine votes to block the competing Carson Project involving the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.
The Chargers and Raiders made a big move this past week when hiring Disney CEO Bob Iger to head the Carson Project, and they reportedly have support in New York Giants owner John Mara, Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, and Steelers owner Dan Rooney, according to Darin Gannt of Pro Football Talk.
The Carson project will need 24 of the 32 owners to vote to approve the move, and a decision could come as late as March. Kroenke reportedly has NFL owners aligned with him in this decision, and those owners include the Cowboys' Jerry Jones, Patriots' Bob Kraft, Redskins' Dan Snyder, Eagles' Jeffrey Lurie, Jets' Woody Johnson, Vikings' Ziggy Wilf, and Ravens' Steve Biscotti. Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown tends to abstain from such votes, making him the eighth vote to prevent the Carson project from passing, according to La Canfora. Kroenke himself makes the ninth vote, and the Buffalo Bills, Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers are franchises that reportedly could go either way.
While Kroenke may have enough votes to block the Carson project from happening, he has plenty of his own issues to handle with the Inglewood project. Earlier this week, the Federal Aviation Administration released a report stating that the new stadium is hazardous to air navigation.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks, as the Raiders, Chargers and Rams are all expected to apply for relocation in January.
