Former basketball star Magic Johnson said on Tuesday that he believes an NFL team will be established in Los Angeles within the next two years.
Johnson made the statement while he was at a joint practice between the Cowboys and the Raiders, his two favorite football teams, according to Yahoo! Sports. He sounded very confident in his belief that L.A. will have a football team. The city has gone 20 years without one.
"I think for the first time, I truly believe we're going to get a team. Finally," Johnson said. "Everybody is on board. The city is on board. The business community is on board. The NFL is on board. Finally we have momentum. In the next couple years, at least in the next 24 months, I think one team will be coming. I don't know what team that will be, but I believe in the next two years we'll have a team."
The basketball Hall of Famer serves as one of the biggest ambassadors for the city, and is an influential member of the Los Angeles business community, having been part of the ownership group that bought the Dodgers in 2012.
Johnson hopes that the Raiders move back to Los Angeles. The team's lease with its stadium in Oakland expires after the 2014 season.
A longtime Raiders season ticket holder, Johnson met with Raiders owner Mark Davis during his trip to Tuesday's training camp practice, Yahoo! Sports reported. Johnson said he has had a relationship with the Davis family since the team was still in Los Angeles. The Raiders have been owned by the Davis family for decades.
However, Johnson said they did not discuss the idea of moving the team back to the city. Davis has also recently met with San Antonio officials to talk about the possibility relocating the Raiders there.
"It would be great to have the Raiders back in L.A.," Johnson said. "I would love for that to happen. But that's going to be up to Mark and the Raiders and the NFL. But I would love to have the Raiders back in L.A., where they belong. We just want a team. We want a team in the worst way."
