NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell expects owners will vote on franchise relocation to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
When is another matter.<\/p>\n
Goodell said Wednesday the owners expressed interest \u201cin wanting to be there, but also recognize we need to find solutions. Our relocation policy is very important.\u201d<\/p>\n
The St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers all have designs on moving to LA, which has not had an NFL franchise since 1995, when the Rams and Raiders left. The current timetable calls for submission of applications to relocate in January, when the owners could vote.<\/p>\n
There has been speculation that timetable could be moved up to December, when the next owners meeting occurs in Dallas. But Pittsburgh Steelers President Art Rooney said he doesn\u2019t envision that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019ll move up the deadline,\u201d Rooney said. \u201cWe have cities that still are putting together their proposals\u201d to keep their teams.<\/p>\n
Eric Grubman, the league\u2019s main point man on Los Angeles, added that the NFL is not married to a vote in January, either, and that it could come later, particularly if one of the applicants is in the playoffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur timeline and planning for at least 12 months has been to enable a January decision,\u201d Grubman said. \u201cBut we have never committed to January. Today we continued on that path. … It could be January or it could be later.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grubman admitted for a team or two to call LA home next season, the latest it could get approval would probably be March or April.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at it through what a club has to do if they\u2019re not certain they\u2019re going to Los Angeles, do they put their tickets on sale or not, then January is much much better than March,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Rams are proposing a stadium in Inglewood, California, while the Raiders and Chargers have one planned for Carson. Those teams\u2019 owners were excused from a round table session during Wednesday\u2019s fall meetings, and the other 29 owners voiced their opinions on approving any moves to LA.<\/p>\n
Goodell said it\u2019s \u201cvery positive\u201d to have two alternatives in what he also called \u201cthe entertainment capital of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neither California team has had success in getting public funding for a new stadium; Goodell noted that has been happening \u201cfor decades.\u201d Missouri has come through with a plan for a $1 billion stadium to keep the Rams, but there are delays in that proposal.<\/p>\n
Earlier Wednesday, the owners approved more international games through 2025, including ones in places other than England. Such as quite possibly Mexico, Germany and Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think it\u2019s time to expand our international series to other countries and respond to the growing interest in our game not only in the U.K., but elsewhere around the world,\u201d Goodell said.<\/p>\n
So an agreement to stage games in the United Kingdom through 2016 not only was extended, but other nations will be considered for international games. Mexico, where one regular-season game was played in 2005 and drew a record attendance of 103,467, is a front-runner for next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s our biggest fan base, our most vibrant market,\u201d said Mark Waller, the league\u2019s vice president\/international. \u201cIt would be a logical place to start.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NFL will announce the 2016 international games this fall. Three games are being held at London\u2019s Wembley Stadium this season for the second straight year, and that number could be increased.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the NFL agreed with English Premier League club Tottenham to play at least two games a season at its new stadium in north London, which is scheduled to open in 2018. That is a 10-year deal.<\/p>\n
Now, other locales very much are in play.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe great news now is that we have the ability to go look at all geographies,\u201d Waller said. \u201cWe\u2019d like to see if we can add a game in a new country for 2016. That\u2019s our goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
The league also is looking at Toronto and Vancouver, and several cities in Germany have expressed interest in hosting games.<\/p>\n
The Pro Bowl also could land in international sites. Brazil has expressed interest in the all-star game, and Waller said Australia, South Africa and Asia also were potential sites, but probably not before early 2018.<\/p>\n
Also Wednesday:<\/p>\n
\u2014Goodell reiterated that the league will continue to vigorously pursue in court reinstating Patriots quarterback Tom Brady\u2019s four-game suspension for using underinflated footballs in the AFC championship game. Brady had the suspension set aside in federal court last month.<\/p>\n
\u2014In the wake of the officiating mistake at the end of Detroit\u2019s loss to Seattle on Monday night, Goodell said rules for use of instant replay in officiating \u201cclearly will be discussed again\u201d by the powerful competition committee.<\/p>\n
\u2014The league approved a cross-ownership proposal for Rams owner Stan Kroenke. He will be allowed to transfer ownership of the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche to his wife, and retain the Rams. The NFL has prohibited an owner from also having other sports franchises in different cities.<\/p>\n
\u2014SiriusXM satellite radio extended its deal to carry NFL broadcasts for six more years. SiriusXM has partnered with the NFL since 2004.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi contributed to this story.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com\/AP_NFL<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell expects owners will vote on franchise relocation to Los Angeles. When is another matter. Goodell said Wednesday the owners expressed interest \u201cin wanting to be there, but also recognize we need to find solutions. Our relocation policy is very important.\u201d The St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-28439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28439\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28439"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=28439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}