LOS ANGELES -- Stadium developers cleared the final political hurdle to bringing the NFL back to Los Angeles on Friday when the city council unanimously approved plans to build a $1.5 billion football stadium downtown.
The next step before construction can begin, potentially next spring, is to convince an NFL team -- or maybe two -- to move.
"We're not trying to steal a franchise and we're not trying to force them to move before they make a decision to move," said Tim Leiweke, CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group, the company behind the project. "That's up to the individual owners out there today. But we will be very active in letting them know, despite what a lot of people thought, we have a deal with the city, we've gone through this process and we are shovel-ready."
