The St. Louis Rams have reportedly proposed a sort of 50-50 split partnership with either the San Diego Chargers or the Oakland Raiders in Inglewood, Calif., according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Tribune. The Chargers and Raiders have been working on a stadium proposal in Carson, Calif., and have hired Disney chairman and chief executive Bob Iger to lead their Carson project.
This move by the Rams makes it look like they don't have enough votes to get approved for relocation, and the hope is that adding another team to the Inglewood project could increase their votes for approval, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report. All three teams are expected to apply for relocation in January, and a decision reportedly could come as late as March.
The Chargers are reportedly more likely to partner with the Rams, but either team could make a deal, according to Acee. There is a ton of uncertainty surrounding these teams' relocation, as each owner will need to get 24 votes out of the league's 32 owners to approve any move, and the Inglewood project currently faces a hurdle with the Federal Aviation Administration.
While there have been rumors that the relocation process could be moved to 2017, many owners have conveyed that they want a decision to come this year. "We want to get something done in January," said Houston Texans owner Bob McNair, via the San Diego Tribune. "This needs to get done," said New York Giants owner and L.A. committee member John Mara.
There is no certain answer as to what's going on in the NFL's relocation process, but the fact that Rams owner Stan Kroenke has reportedly offered a deal to either the Chargers or Raiders could have major implications on how this plays out. Three NFL franchises clearly want to move to L.A., but it's unknown which team or teams will get the 24 votes and which two teams could be paired given this new information.
