NFL in LA: Play-By-Play Timeline of Events

A timeline of events involving the return of an NFL franchise to Los Angeles

A timeline of events involving the return of an NFL franchise to Los Angeles since the Rams and Raiders moved out of Los Angeles nearly two decades ago.

Nov. 8, 2016: San Diego voters resoundingly reject a team-sponsored measure asking for $1.15 billion in increased hotel occupancy taxes to help fund a $1.8 billion downtown stadium and convention center. The vote marks another blow to plans to prevent relocation.

Sept. 18, 2016: The Rams play their first regular season game in the Los Angeles area since leaving two decades earlier. The Rams defeated the Seattle Seahawks 9-3 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. 

Jan. 12, 2016: During meetings in Houston, the NFL's relocation committee recommended Carson as its preferred site if the league decides to move a team to Los Angeles. Hours later, league owners approved a Rams move from St. Louis to the Inglewood stadium and gave the Chargers an option to join them.

Jan. 4, 2016: The San Diego Chargers, St. Louis Rams and Oakland Raiders file with the NFL for approval for relocation to Los Angeles beginning with the 2016 season.

Nov. 11, 2015: Disney CEO Bob Iger is selected by Carson Holdings Inc to oversee the Carson stadium project.

Aug. 11, 2015: NFL owners hear proposals on stadium plans in Carson and Inglewood.

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May 31, 2015: Demolition crews implode the Hollywood Park Racetrack, where the Inglewood stadium would be built.

May 20, 2015: The league said during NFL meetings that if a stadium is built in Los Angeles by 2018, the city would become a candidate to host the 2020 Super Bowl.

April 21, 2015: Carson's city council approves a plan to build an NFL stadium.

March 9, 2015: AEG announces it has dropped plans to bring an NFL stadium to downtown Los Angeles.

February 2015: The San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders announce a plan to jointly build a 72,000-seat stadium in Carson, in the midst of talks with their respective cities to extend backstops. A mayor's advisory group announces it will speed up work on its proposal to keep the Chargers in San Diego.

January 2015: St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke announces plans for an NFL stadium on the Inglewood property he purchased a year earlier.

December 2014: The Chargers announced plans to stay in San Diego for the 2015 season.

October 2014: A survey commissioned by the NFL is distributed to thousands of LA residents, asking for feedback regarding a franchise in Los Angeles.

January 2014: St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke buys property in Inglewood through holding company.

Aug. 9, 2011: City council members unanimously approve a Memorandum of Understanding with Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), which requires a full Environmental Impact Review of the project and details a 55-year lease for the land under the existing West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center. With similarly approved proposals on the table, AEG and Majestic Realty are continuing to competitively court NFL teams.

Aug. 3, 2011: A city council panel supports the financial framework for AEG’s plan, setting the stage for another nine months of talks between the two parties and sending the agreement to a full council vote Aug. 9.

July 28, 2011:Valley residents have a chance to express their concerns over a potential stadium. Divided residents cited city pride, tax and business revenue, as well as traffic, among reasons to support or reject the plan. 

July 27, 2011: High school football players, construction workers and even NBA alum turned business mogul Magic Johnson turned out to LA City Hall to comment on the possibility of a football stadium.

July 26, 2011: City officials release a draft agreement detailing a 55-year lease of the land under the existing West Hall of the LA Convention Center. AEG would pay $6.5 million for the land upon which a stadium and parking structure will be built.

July 25, 2011: AEG President and CEO Tim Lewieke tells NBC4 he hopes to break ground in early 2012, citing an owner willing to take the risk on the $1.5 billion project.

July 20, 2011: An LA stadium is expected to generate $41 million in annual tax revenue, $22 million of which would go to the city, according to a report authored by Bruce Baltin of PKF Consulting USA, a firm hired by Anschutz Entertainment Group.

June 10, 2011: Leiweke says he’s been talking with representatives from the Minnesota Vikings, San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders, St. Louis Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars as potential migrants to LA.

March 30, 2011: Residents are invited to an open house at the downtown convention center to present environmental concerns to LA’s planning department.

March 3, 2011: Majestic Realty stops referring to its proposed location as Industry, claiming it conjures up negative images. They begin addressing the potential stadium site as Grand Crossing.

Feb. 7, 2011: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa posts a YouTube video expressing his support of bringing an NFL stadium and team back to City of Angels.

Feb. 4, 2011: NFL Commissioner Rodger Goodell says Los Angeles is on the right path toward achieving its stadium, but still has a long, namely financial, road ahead.

Feb. 1, 2011: The proposed NFL stadium will be named Farmer’s Field, after a 30-year naming-rights deal worth $700 million was squared away with the insurance company. But there is still no football team to occupy the gridiron.

Dec. 16, 2010: AEG reveals a futuristic-looking drawing proposal that includes an NFL stadium and expanded convention center.

Dec. 9, 2010: Leiweke announces AEG will absorb the stadium’s billion-dollar tab, save $350 million in government issued bonds that he promised would be repaid from event taxes.

Nov. 15, 2010: Staples Center-owner AEG proposes a competing bid for a retractable-roof “event center” downtown and convention center expansion project.

Jan. 26, 2010: City of Industry’s 82 registered voters approve $500 million in infrastructure bonds, some of which are allocated to support billionaire and Majestic Realty president Ed Roski’s $800-million stadium proposal.

Jan. 15, 2010: Over 18,000 news jobs associated with the stadium development start going up-for-grabs at the Joe Jobs Expo.

Jan. 7, 2010: Gov. Schwarzenegger signs a bill that exempts the LA stadium from environmental regulations and nullifies a lawsuit over the project’s environmental impact report by the citizens in neighboring Walnut.

Jan. 6, 2010: City of Walnut residents file a petition challenging Majestic Realty’s stadium plans, claiming construction was approved without an adequate environmental impact report critiquing the stadium’s effect on air quality, traffic and quality of life.

Nov. 3, 2009: Majestic Realty Co.’s website receives over 140,000 inquiries about general admission, club seats and luxury suites to watch a team that doesn’t exist play in a stadium that hasn’t been built.

Oct. 14, 2009: California legislature exempts a proposed NFL stadium in Industry from state environment laws. The theoretical 75,000-seat stadium would sit near the interchange of the Orange (57) and Pomona (60) freeways.

April 2008: Developer Ed Roski proposes a site in the city of Industry.

November 2005: The NFL commissioner announces after a meeting with then-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa that a preliminary agreement was reached to being a team back to LA.

May 2003: League owners vote to continue exploring options for a stadium in Los Angeles and commit money to a feasibility study for site in Carson.

May 2002: AEG announces plans to build a stadium next to Staples Center.

March 1999: The NFL approves an expansion franchise for Los Angeles, contingent on several issues involving the city and league, including a stadium site. No agreement is reached, and an expansion team is awarded to Houston.

August 1995: The NFL approves the Raiders' move to Oakland.

April 1995: The NFL approves the Rams' move to St. Louis.

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