Coordinates , Acreage 157 acres | Executive suites 202 Surface Natural grass | |
Location Carson, California, USA Capacity 65,000 (expandable to 75,000 for Super Bowls) | ||
Carson Stadium (referred to in renderings as Los Angeles Stadium, not to be confused with the dormant 2008 stadium proposal of the same name) was an American football stadium planned to be built in Carson, California, United States, 13 miles (21 km) south of downtown Los Angeles. It was proposed to become the joint home of the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. The Chargers and Raiders planned a shared, $1.7 billion stadium in the city of Carson, if both teams fail to get new stadiums in their current hometowns. However, NFL owners failed to approve the stadium, instead opting for a new NFL stadium in Inglewood, California proposed by Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
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Background
Since 2007, the Chargers had an option every February 1 to terminate their lease at Qualcomm Stadium, their home at the time since 1967. Under the lease terms, the Chargers would have owed the city an exit fee in the amount of $17.6 million if they had relocated in or before 2015. The team had been working to build a publicly funded stadium since 2002 and proposed a new stadium as part of a convention center annex. However, the plan faced opposition from local politicians and hotel owners who have voiced a preference for an expansion of the existing San Diego Convention Center. In December 2014, the Chargers announced they would stay for the 2015 season.
The Raiders had been working with Oakland politicians to build a commercial development project dubbed the Coliseum City project that would include new stadiums for the Raiders and the Oakland Athletics baseball team, who currently share O.co Coliseum, which opened in 1966. The team has offered to contribute $300 million with an additional $200 million coming from the NFL, but that would leave $500 million of funding to be determined and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf expressed opposition to using public funds. The Raiders have been on a year-to-year lease on the Coliseum since the previous long-term lease ended after the 2013 season; the most recent extension came in March 2015.
Proposal development
On February 19, 2015, the Chargers and Raiders announced plans for a privately financed $1.7 billion stadium that the two teams would build in Carson if they were to move to the Los Angeles market. Both teams stated that they would continue to attempt to get stadiums built in their respective cities.
On April 22, 2015, the Carson City Council bypassed the option to put the stadium to public vote and approved the plan 3-0. On May 5, 2015 Carson City Council unanimously approved to spend $50 million to finish environmental cleanup on the site. On May 19, 2015 the Chargers and Raiders announced that they have finalized a deal to secure land in Carson which was transferred to a joint powers authority in Carson after the 157-acre site was purchased by Carson Holdings a company set up by the two teams. The council voted without having clarified several issues, including who would finance the stadium, how the required three-way land swap would be performed, and how it would raise enough revenue if only one team moved in as tenant.
On November 11, 2015, Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, was appointed non-executive chairman of the Carson stadium project. On January 12, 2016, the NFL and owners voted to allow the Rams to move back to Los Angeles while giving the Chargers an option to join them (with the Raiders having the same option as well) thus effectively rejecting and killing the Carson proposal.
Design
In April 2015, the Chargers and Raiders presented the stadium design renderings to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league's Committee on Los Angeles Opportunities. The proposed stadium is open-air with natural turf, has a peristyle design inspired by the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and a tower that will rise between 115 and 120 feet above the main concourse, and which, depending on which team is playing, will display simulated lightning bolts (for the Chargers) or a flame in honor of the late Al Davis (for the Raiders).
The stadium design was retained by the Raiders and was re-proposed minus the Chargers features and with a roof and black exterior in the teams proposal to Las Vegas, Nevada on August 25th, 2016.
Rival site
In April 2015, the St. Louis Rams also presented their own Los Angeles stadium plan for a site in Inglewood, California, which was approved by the Inglewood City Council on February 24, 2015 where construction was planned to begin December 2015 with or without an NFL team. Any team relocation required the approval of 24 of the 32 league owners. On January 12, 2016, the NFL approved the relocation of the Rams to Los Angeles in 2016 and the NFL stadium in Inglewood, CA proposed by Rams owner Stan Kroenke effectively rejecting and killing the Carson stadium proposal.