NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell believes that the city of Los Angeles will eventually get an NFL team.
Thus far, the NFL has not put a timeframe on when that would be, but Pittsburgh Steelers president and chairman of the NFL's stadium committee Art Rooney thinks it could happen within a few years. He also wouldn't be surprised if the second-largest media market in the United States had more than one football team to call its own.
"I would think that, within five years, L.A. would have a team," Rooney said, according to Alan Robinson of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "I wouldn't be surprised if it's two teams. I wouldn't want to make a prediction, but I would be comfortable saying one. But there's certainly a chance there will be two."
As noted by Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com, two teams would help justify the costs of a stadium, which have been pegged as $800 million for Ed Roski's City of Industry project and $1.2 billion for AEG's Farmer's Field stadium in downtown Los Angeles.
While it's good news for football fans in Los Angeles that the NFL's stadium committee chair is talking about a team returning in five years, it's way too early to speculate on which team -- or teams -- would relocate.
The Minnesota Vikings, a recent relocation candidate, have a deal for a new stadium. The St. Louis Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars also have been mentioned as candidates to move, but both organizations have said they're committed to staying put. Other candidates include the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers, though it's unlikely the AFC West rivals would share a stadium.
Follow Brian McIntyre on Twitter _@brianmcintyre_.
