Daily Pulse

Farmers Field:
Signed, Sealed, Delivered

AEG President Tim Leiweke and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sealed the deal to build a $1.2 billion football stadium adjacent to L.A. Live and Staples Center by inking an “implementation agreement” Oct. 3.

They wasted no time signing the agreement less than one week after gaining the L.A. City Council’s unanimous approval of the project, which includes modernization of the city’s Convention Center, despite questions raised by the news that AEG is up for sale.

 
Now, it’s up to Leiweke and the NFL to bring a team to the City of Angels, which hasn’t had a pro football team to claim as its own in nearly 20 years, and the future Farmers Field.
 
Despite that long absence, the mayor insists there’s more to the project than pigskin.
 
“This is not just about football,” Villaraigosa was quoted saying by the Los Angeles Times in an announcement before some 150 gathered at Chick Hearn Court near Staples Center. “People will come to downtown from every part of the city.”
 
Leiweke is reportedly already in talks with NFL team owners and Villaraigosa said he met with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in New York Oct. 1, according to the Times. 
 
Villaraigosa also said AEG is on track to announce a team – and possibly two – by March.  Teams in the rumor mill have included two former L.A. residents – the Rams and Raiders – as well as the San Diego Chargers and Minnesota Vikings. 
 
Some teams rumored to be interested in moving have since leveraged that chatter into deals for new facilities in their home cities and are now out of contention.
 
The project still has its opponents who insist local taxpayers will end up footing at least part of the tab, no matter the assurances Leiweke, Villaraigosa and high-powered supporters like Casey Wasserman. But others point to the thousands of “good union jobs” that will be created during the construction of Farmers Field as worth the risk.
 
And anti-poverty activists who want AEG to contribute $60 million for affordable housing have filed suit against the project, saying review of environmental impacts of the project was inappropriately cut short, according to the Times.
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