Developer targeting Vikings for new L.A. stadium

The developer working to bring the NFL back to the Los Angeles area with a sleek, new 75,000-seat stadium has a 600-acre site to build the proposed venue and is close to having the legal go-ahead to break ground.

Now all that's needed is a team.

Majestic Realty Co. plans to build the $800 million stadium in the city of Industry - about 15 miles east of Los Angeles - and it's casting a wide net in its search. Majestic named seven teams it believes are ready for a new home.

The Buffalo Bills, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Minnesota Vikings, the St. Louis Rams, the San Diego Chargers, the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers are on developer's list of possible targets.

The teams are in stadiums that are either too small or can't be updated to cash in on the box seats, naming rights and other revenue sources that an NFL club needs to thrive, Majestic managing partner John Semcken said on Thursday, a day after the California Senate approved an environmental exemption bill allowing the stadium's construction.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office didn't immediately respond to an inquiry on whether he planned to sign the bill, which would nullify a lawsuit over the project's environmental impact report by citizens in the neighboring city of Walnut.

Majestic helped develop downtown Los Angeles' Staples Center, home of several sports franchises, including the NBA's Lakers and Clippers and the NHL's Kings.

Semcken said the company plans to begin approaching teams after the Super Bowl in February and could have a team playing at the Rose Bowl starting from nest season until 2013, when the company hoped to have the new stadium built.

The NFL is aware of Wednesday's Senate vote and other potential stadium developments in the Los Angeles area, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said. He declined to comment on specific sites or teams that might move to the region.

Marc Ganis, president of Chicago-based consultancy SportsCorp, said persuading a team to move and getting the NFL's approval would be Majestic's greatest obstacle yet.

"Having the legislation and the environmental impact statement is lovely and it's a good thing," he said. "But without having the team in hand, it's just a very nice piece of paper to put up on your wall."

The Jaguars and the Bills are in areas too sparsely populated to make financing a new stadium feasible, Semcken said. The Jaguars' TV market ranks 29th among the NFL's 32 teams, while the Bills' is 31st, according to Nielsen Media Research Inc.

The Jaguars have struggled for years to fill Jacksonville Municipal Stadium and are in danger of having all their games blacked out on local TV this season. The Bills, meanwhile, have been playing some home games in Toronto in an effort to expand their market.

Jaguars majority owner Wayne Weaver and Bills owner Ralph Wilson have steadfastly dismissed any suggestion that they will sell or move their teams.

Other teams would have trouble raising the cash for a new stadium, Semcken said.

Mark Fabiani, who has been overseeing the Chargers' seven-year struggle to have 42-year-old Qualcomm Stadium replaced with a newer venue, said it's harder to finance a stadium in San Diego than Los Angeles because of the smaller market.

He said the Chargers are concentrating on keeping the team in San Diego, but noted that Majestic chairman and chief executive Ed Roski has a long-standing friendship with Chargers owner Alex Spanos and that the team's current lease enables it to move for a fee.

He said the team views a new venue as a necessity and wouldn't wait indefinitely for one to be built in San Diego.

"I can't predict what would happen if he called us in a year or six months," Fabiani said, referring to Roski.

The 49ers' could fall off Majestic's list of targets if residents of the San Francisco Bay Area city of Santa Clara vote to authorize nearly $80 million in public funds for the 75,000-seat venue for the team.

49ers spokeswoman Lisa Lang said managers are striving to keep the team in the area and that she expects Santa Clara voters to approve the $937 million stadium when they cast ballots within the year.

She also said planners were seeking approval to have two NFL teams play at the new stadium and that 49ers representatives have discussed sharing the venue with the Raiders, also on Majestic's list.

The Raiders, who moved to Oakland after playing in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994, are free to leave Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum when their lease expires next year.

Rounding off the list are the Vikings, whose lease at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome runs out after the 2011 season, and the Rams, whose lease allows them to move as early as 2014 if the Edward Jones Dome is not deemed among the top quarter of all NFL stadiums.

Messages left with the Rams and Raiders were not immediately returned.

The Vikings are asking state legislators to issue at least $215 million in bonds to build a stadium that would keep the team in the Twin Cities, team spokesman Lester Bagley said.