A Letter to Falcons Fans: The Los Angeles Card

Moving to Los Angeles? A pipe dream. 

Dear Atlanta Falcons Fan,

Congratulations. Not only are you going to keep your Falcons in Atlanta, but also gain that new stadium you've long coveted. While the talks between the team, the city of Atlanta, and the state of Georgia have not yet technically produced that new stadium, I am now sure it is going to happen. How can I be so sure? After all, both the city and the state seem hesitant to commit public money to the project and the Falcons do not want to completely fund the project. Follow the logic after the jump.

Well, I’m from Los Angeles, and as soon as LA's name becomes affiliated with your team, it almost always works out in your favor. Since the Rams and Raiders left in 1994 and 1995 respectively, there have been now 14 teams who have played the "Los Angeles card" in their quest to improve their stadium. Yet Los Angeles still has no football team. Baltimore can thank Los Angeles for its Ravens; Houston can thank Los Angeles for the Texans. For fans of Seattle, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Tampa Bay, Minnesota (soon) and San Francisco, it seems only right that they “thank” Los Angeles for their new stadiums. The threat of moving to Los Angeles helped each team secure the funding for a new stadium in their own city. New Orleans, Carolina and Buffalo used the threat of Los Angeles to improve the condition of their current stadiums. The only teams that have not been able to leverage Los Angeles to their own success are San Diego and Oakland. Those two has to do with California state law banning the use of tax dollars for public stadiums as much as anything else.

See, Atlanta? It almost always works out when Los Angeles gets involved. It doesn’t matter that your governor says that Falcons’ owner Arthur Blank has never once threatened the Los Angeles card because Los Angeles has come to you. We want your team because we have not one, but two NFL stadiums ready to break ground as soon as a team is ready to move. We are America’s second largest television market, yet we are missing America’s number one sport. Now it is only a matter of time until the state of Georgia and the Falcons reach an agreement on how to fund the current 100 million dollar difference that currently exists. Despite the fact 75% of Georgians oppose public funding towards a new stadium, no politician wants to be the person who let the NFL leave the city. I know it seems stupid that your billionaire owner only wants to pay for 70% of the new stadium when both potential Los Angeles stadiums are being 100% financed privately, but Arthur Blank knows that the city and state won’t let the Falcons leave.

The closer 2017 gets, when the Falcons current lease ends, the louder the Los Angeles rumors will be. By then, the politicians, who currently do not want to deal, will sign a deal to build the Falcons a new stadium. Just ask the Minnesota legislature, who for years did not want to build a new stadium on public money until suddenly the threat of the Los Angeles Vikings became too great and a deal was reached almost immediately to keep the team in Minnesota.

So congratulations, Atlanta. I’m excited for your new stadium, and hopefully it will keep the team in Georgia for the foreseeable future.



Sincerely,

The NFL fans of Los Angeles