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LA going with 'If you build it, they will come' stadium approach, your move Oakland

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Some NFL team or teams will have their new field of dreams awaiting them in Los Angeles. The three teams in the running for it are the Rams, Raiders, and Chargers. The Rams are the most likely of the three teams mainly because the Rams owner Stan Kroenke is the one who purchased the land upon which the LA stadium is to be built. But there's a very good chance they won't be the lone inhabitants.

Even with all three teams remaining in their current cities for 2015, the stadium construction is going ahead. It began last week even without a team committed to inhabiting it.

"This is ‘Field of Dreams' stuff," Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts told David Hunn of the St Louis Dispatch. "Build it and they will come."

"If you have the most modern, the most beautiful NFL stadium in the world, you're not going to have any problem populating it. If the NFL wants to migrate here, we would welcome it."

Work has begun excavating and clearing ground on the site of the old Hollywood Park Casino. The mere fact that it is an NFL team owner who owns that land gives a strong indication Butts may just be playing coy with his "If an NFL team wants to migrate here" statement. I would say he's pretty confident this 80,000 seat venue will not be the backdrop for a weekend swap meet.

An NFL team is coming. Perhaps two. The Rams are one of them. Whether either the Raiders or Chargers are the other team will depend on if they can get things worked out in their own cities of Oakland and San Diego respectively.

One thing is for sure, the stadium project in LA has been kicked into high gear. The land is being cleared and according to reports, they could break ground on the new stadium by the end of the year.

Stockbridge Capital, of which Kroenke is a part, put the stadium proposal on the ballot which means as of June, if approved, it's full speed ahead on the project. That give them plenty of time to prepare the grounds in the meantime. The City Council could also approve it outright which would keep it get it pushed through even faster.

Those grounds are not just for a stadium. This is a megaproject which is to include a hotel, shops, restaurants, parks, and residential.

Oakland should be paying close attention to this. Their long proposed 'Coliseum City' project is very similar to what LA is doing. And compared to how quickly the situation in LA is moving, Oakland has been seriously dragging their heels the past few years trying to get something done. If they don't get on it quickly, the Raiders may find this LA construction to be far more inviting.