Read Loyal Homer’s argument that Los Angeles should have an NFL team and Bleacher Fan’s argument that LA should not.
Ah, professional football. We have missed you. I mean, summer is great, baseball is fantastic, but that’s about it. Summer is about living in anticipation of America’s TRUE past time – football.
What better way to kick off (get it?) a series of NFL debates in the coming weeks than with a story that is always lurking in the shadows each NFL off-season – will the NFL ever come back to Los Angeles? Each off-season it seems there is another investor, another billionaire, another consensus builder that believes they can bring viable professional football back to the City of Angels.
Before we get to today’s debate question let’s quickly examine an interesting history of football in Los Angeles so writers and readers alike can have a little context.
Football first came to light in Los Angeles in 1926 with the Los Angeles Buccaneers. They weren’t as hapless as Tampa Bay’s version a half-century later, either, finishing their season at 6-3-1 with wins over great teams of the era like the Kansas City Cowboys and the New York Giants – despite having to play all of their games on the road. The Buccaneers were only around for a season, however.
Shortly after World War II ended, so did LA’s pro football drought. In 1946 LA welcomed the Dons of the All-American Football Conference. The team (and the conference) folded in a short four years, in part because of cross town competition from the newly relocated (and Bleacher Fan will love this) Cleveland Rams. Cleveland’s old team settled into its new city until they moved to St. Louis for the 1995 season (and promptly became a respected power and eventual Super Bowl winner ::sigh::).
Since then, the city has achieved only speculation about another professional football franchise (and enjoyed the spoils of a pretty good college team, too).
Speaking of speculation, real estate billionaire Ed Roski is the source of it now. He likely knows what he’s talking about, too, seeing how he helped build the Staples Center and all. Roski has proposed an $800M stadium project in LA that will seat approximately 75,000 fans. LA is the second largest TV market in the country with a local fan base that does love its football. So, why has pro football failed in LA so many times in the past? Is it the saturated market with three teams already in California with the San Diego Chargers, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Oakland Raiders? Is too much sun distracting would be fans from football? Or, is Roski on to something and just the guy to revive professional football in LA? It’s a good thing we all have The Sports Debates to help us sort through these questions!
Today’s question is… Should the NFL do everything in its power to ensure a professional franchise returns to Los Angeles?
Loyal Homer will argue that the NFL should bend over backwards to secure an NFL franchise in Los Angeles while Bleacher Fan will argue that the NFL should tread lightly and not risk another pro football franchise in LA, especially at the expense of the quality of the league.
The coin is flipped. Kick it off, Loyal Homer!
My knowledge of NFL history is not the greatest, but didn’t LA also enjoy an extended visit or so from the Raiders franchise? I’ll have to check Tecmo Bowl this evening to be sure.
You’re right, RocketFan. It was an intentional omission, as I plan on referencing them in my verdict coming soon!
hard edge
jumper
cool n’ off like glass
guess i’m with u now
I thought this was funny
got caught in ya’lls net
better yet
LA is a college football town. They have so many great college teams to follow. And they also get the advantage of NOT having an NFL team in town – great TV games. They do not have to have a terrible local game on the tube, since they don’t have a local team. They can also go to Oakland, San Francisco, San Diego or Phoenix to catch a game if they want to.
Teachj, your comment is what this site is all about – thanks. Excellent point about potential blackouts. A market that is accustom to getting many good games on television each week may endure resentment from fans who have grown used to having access to the entire league’s slate of games each Sunday.
I hope one day they can have a team agian. In the meen time we’ll have to see if the UFL has any sucess there. Yeah, it’s not quite NFL but maybe a littmus to see how hungary they are for footballs.
Thanks for the comment brandfantom. What needs to happen for the UFL to prove out as a key indicator for potential NFL success?
Just out of curiousity, teachj, what teams do you usually get on your local CBS and FOX stations now? The Niners or Cards on FOX and the Chargers on CBS? This is assuming these games are at 1:00 local time.