The Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers and St. Louis Rams are all expected to apply for relocation this upcoming January, but reports have surfaced that the Chargers would have a much better chance of relocating to Los Angeles if they weren't partnered with the Oakland Raiders, according to CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora. There is reportedly concern amongst other NFL owners about the strength of the Raiders ownership, and their partnership with the Chargers could result in no teams getting approval to relocate to L.A. in 2016, according to La Canfora.
The Raiders and Chargers have already hired chairman and chief executive of the Walt Disney Company, Bob Iger to lead their proposed stadium project in Carson. Rams owner Stan Kroenke is planning to move the St. Louis Rams to Inglewood but has reportedly offered a 50-50 partnership to either the Chargers or Raiders to join him. Iger has stated that the bond between the Raiders and Chargers is strong and that there is no consideration that either team would join Rams owner Stan Kroenke, according to La Canfora.
Each team will need a respective 24 votes out of the league's 32 owners to approve any move, and it seems unlikely that Raiders owner Mark Davis will get the necessary votes. Owners around the league reportedly have doubts that Davis could build a strong franchise in a two-team L.A. market, according to La Canfora. The best chance for a two-team market in L.A. to happen would be for Chargers owner Dean Spanos to join Kroenke, but that could result in the vote being pushed back to 2017, according to La Canfora.
The Carson project is reportedly favored over the Inglewood project within the Relocation Committee, but support would be much higher if the Rams and Chargers partnered in the move to L.A. All three franchises are desperate to get out of their current cities, and with a vote coming in January, it will be interesting to follow how this all plays out.
