Survey shows NFL’s interest in L.A.
A survey e-mailed to Los Angeles area residents on Tuesday on behalf of the NFL seems most interested in gauging recipients’ interest in season tickets and luxury suites in a potential stadium in that market.
The survey, which was provided to U-T San Diego by multiple recipients, was sent by Convention, Sports & Leisure International, a sports facility planning and advisory firm that has conducted previous stadium studies for teams and leagues. The L.A. Times reported early Tuesday morning that the league would be sending the survey to about 2,000 people.
The e-mail introducing the survey contained a link to a questionnaire and says it is “a market feasibility study to determine the potential support for an NFL team in the Los Angeles area.”
This is the first time since the late 1990s that the league has directed such a study of the L.A. market.
The Raiders and Rams left Los Angeles after the 1994 season, for Oakland and St. Louis, respectively. Those two teams, as well as the Chargers, are overwhelmingly considered the most likely to move to L.A. All three consider their stadiums untenable for the long term and all three can get out of their current leases with little (Chargers) or no (Raiders, Rams) penalty.
Recent reports indicate the league would like to have at least one team in L.A. in the next two years, possibly as soon as next season. The survey is perhaps the most concrete example of the pending inevitability of a team (or teams) playing in Los Angeles.
It begins by asking whether the recipient is a fan of the NFL. Later, recipients are asked their (or their company’s) attitude toward an NFL franchise in Los Angeles, whether the identity of that team would affect that attitude and to quantify their (or their company’s) interest in attending NFL games in a new stadium in L.A.
Recipients are asked to identify their favorite NFL teams, how many games they attend each year and whether they (or their company) are season ticket holders for any NFL team. It also asks, in separate questions, whether recipients (or their company) hold general season tickets or a luxury suite for any college or professional teams currently in Los Angeles.
The survey also states the intention to hold focus groups in Los Angeles and asks whether recipients would be interested in participating in those groups.
The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously in September to give the Anschutz Entertainment Group a six-month extension to find an NFL team to move to the city. The company entered a deal with the city in 2012 to build an NFL stadium next to the downtown convention center, but that deal was set to expire on Oct. 18. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said earlier this month on KNX-AM (1070) that it was “highly likely” an NFL team would relocate to L.A. within the next year.
The Chargers have said having another team in Southern California would be detrimental, in that they derive about 30 percent of their revenue from Orange County and Los Angeles.
The team has been trying to get a new stadium in San Diego for 12 years. Recent discussions between the Chargers and Mayor Kevin Faulconer represent the most positive developments in that time, and the demise of a separate convention center expansion proposal is seen as a victory for the Chargers’ desire for a downtown stadium. It is believed the team will present a 2016 ballot measure asking for public assistance in the $1 billion-plus cost of stadium construction. Those public funds would most likely be in the form of land, as well as hotel and sales taxes.
If progress toward that measure stalls, or the measure is defeated by voters, the team is expected to seek to relocate.
