Carson council approves $1.7 billion NFL stadium for Raiders, Chargers

The Carson, California city council unanimously approves a $1.7 billion NFL stadium plan

The Carson, Calif., City Council unanimously approved a $1.7 billion NFL stadium plan, with the new facility to be shared by the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders.

The city council was allowed to vote on the project after a ballot initiative collected more than 15,000 signatures, twice as many as required. 

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With approval of the measure, the NFL is one step closer to having an NFL team in the Los Angeles area for the first time in more than two decades. 

Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States and has been without an NFL franchise since 1995, when the Rams left nearby Anaheim for St. Louis and the Raiders went back to Oakland.

"There are two things we need in California: rain … and football," Carson mayor Albert Robles said, according to the Los Angeles Times. "And football is coming to Carson!”

Robles said that construction could begin by the end of the year. 

The approval allowed the proposal to skip environmental reviews that could have delayed the project. 

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The city council in Inglewood also approved a $1.86-billion stadium spearheaded by Rams owner Stan Kroenke and real estate investment management firm Stockbridge Capital.

Kroenke’s project would be located next to Hollywood Park, about 10 miles from downtown Los Angeles. Those plans also include a 6,000-seat performance venue as well as retail, office, hotel and residential space next to the Hollywood Park site.

The NFL is set to meet with Committee on Los Angeles Opportunities in New York on Wednesday to discuss both projects.

The Raiders and Chargers will continue to seek financing to build stadiums in their cities, and neither franchise has submitted relocation paperwork to initiate a vote by the league’s 32 owners.

- Scooby Axson