Transcript
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
Some other news now - after two decades of waiting, LA is finally getting an NFL team back - maybe two. The owner of the St. Louis Rams - once the LA Rams - is building a stadium near LA and wants to move the franchise back. The NFL said yes and that the San Diego Chargers or Oakland Raiders might get to play there as well. Here's Ben Bergman from member station KPCC.
BEN BERGMAN, BYLINE: NFL owners met here in Houston for an 11-hour marathon session to hash out their differences and to once and for all decide the winner of the LA stadium race. That was St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
STAN KROENKE: We worked hard. We got a little bit lucky. And we had a lot of good people help us.
BERGMAN: Kroenke may very well have to share his $1.8 billon stadium by the time it opens in three years. Owners voted to allow the Chargers to move, too, if they want to. They have a year to decide and try to negotiate for a better stadium deal in San Diego. Chargers owner Dean Spanos sounded noncommittal.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DEAN SPANOS: This has really been excruciating for everyone. But, you know, I'm going to look at all our options.
BERGMAN: And if the Chargers don't take the LA option, the Oakland Raiders can return to LA, or the NFL gives them a $100 million consolation prize towards a new stadium if they stay in Oakland. But now, the NFL has one fan base in St. Louis very disappointed and two others in limbo. It's just the sort of situation commissioner Roger Goodell tries to avoid.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ROGER GOODELL: Stability is something that we've taken a great deal of pride in - and in some ways, a bittersweet moment.
BERGMAN: But it's a sweet moment for Rams fans in LA, who saw their team leave in 1995. For NPR News, I'm Ben Bergman in Houston. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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