Sports Network

August 9, 2011, 8:33 p.m.

Los Angeles, CA —
Los Angeles City Council moved forward on building a new 72,000-seat NFL stadium near Staples Center by approving outlines of an agreement Tuesday.

The 12-0 vote by city council members to approve of the deal by the Anschutz Entertainment Group is another step in the process to get a football team back in Los Angeles, the only major-market city in the United States not to host a National Football League team.

The stadium would be located in the downtown section of the city at the current site of the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center. A key part is that the West Hall would be demolished and a new Hall constructed immediately adjacent to the South Hall.

The cost of the stadium is an estimated $1.2 billion. This would come at a cost of approximately $275 million in tax-exempt bonds. AEG would cover 73 percent of the costs and 27 percent would come from new tax revenues generated by the event center.

The stadium would be known as Farmers Field.

The problem for Phil Anschutz, the billionaire owner of AEG, is getting either an expansion team to Los Angeles or getting a current club to move to the city. Right now, the NFL has 32 teams.

Both the Rams and Raiders departed southern California prior to the 1995 season -- the Rams for St. Louis and the Raiders back to Oakland. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which opened in 1923, played host to both teams.

The Rams came from Cleveland to LA in 1946 and called the Coliseum home until moving to Anaheim for the 1980 season. The Raiders moved in during their original relocation from Oakland following the 1981 campaign and stayed through 1994.