LOS ANGELES (AP) – The developer that wanted to bring an NFL stadium to downtown Los Angeles abandoned its plans Monday after the proposed Farmers Field went from front-runner to impossible underdog in the race to return an NFL team to the region.
With no franchise attached to the project and two competing stadium plans emerging in quick succession – both with NFL owners on board – the downtown plan from developer AEG went into a steep decline in a matter of months.
“We are no longer in discussion with the NFL or any NFL team,” said Ted Fikre, vice chairman of AEG, which owns the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and the downtown Staples Center, home of the NBA’s Lakers and Clippers.
The developer had spent five years and at least $50 million in trying to add the NFL to its arsenal and restore it to the city, but AEG now says it will focus on other downtown development projects.
The announcement leaves two clear contenders for the NFL’s return to the area for the first time in two decades, both in cities just outside Los Angeles: A stadium in Inglewood proposed in January with the backing of St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke, and a project in Carson announced last month with the joint backing of the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers.