It seems like a NFL team will play in Los Angeles in the near future. The question that needs answering is the when. Three teams have expressed serious interest in moving to Los Angeles: St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers. Oakland and San Diego unveiled plans to share a stadium together.
St. Louis' Inglewood stadium proposal was approved on Feb. 17 by the city government, forcing other locations to ramp up its own plans.
In a very questionable move, Anschultz Entertainment Group commissioned a 14-page report by former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge stating the Inglewood stadium proposal is a dangerous option because it would be a tempting terrorist attack location. It needs to be noted that AEG is vying for its own NFL stadium next to Staples Center.
Ridge writes that the Inglewood stadium location is a prime target because it would be a couple of miles away from Los Angeles International Airport and would be beneath all flight paths of airlines. Ridge fails to note that San Francisco's Levi's Stadium and New York's MetLife Stadium are miles away from airports and have not had any risks associated with them. In fact, no NFL stadium has been the subject of a terrorist attack.
To counter Ridge's poor argument, city officials and aviation experts, including the Federal Aviation Administration, have said that the Inglewood stadium location would serve no safety concerns at all.
AEG seems to be playing dirty to reap the benefits of having their name associated with a new stadium in Los Angeles. AEG should feel ashamed for having to scare the public with the threat of a terrorist attack.
