Los Angeles expansion is hot topic at NFL owners meeting

However, reading between the lines of this story from Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Timesit appears the league is heading down a path that would only involve the Rams and Chargers bringing professional football back to Los Angeles for the first time since 1995.

(History of Los Angeles: Football passions run high, even without a team)

Farmer says Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson – both members of Commissioner Roger Goodell’s inner circle – took sides.

On Jones, who just wants someone… anybody – to move to Los Angeles. Ideally, it would be the Rams:

“My role here is not to sell anyone out,” Jones said, standing just off Park Avenue on a pristine day when the league was holding smaller committee meetings. “My role is simply to remind us that we only have one chance to get it right in Los Angeles. Let’s do it right. And let’s do it. …

Jones has already widely praised the deep-pocketed Kroenke for his willingness to be bold and take risks in Los Angeles, much like Jones took a risk when he purchased the Cowboys in 1989, following the Texas oil crisis.

But there’s another school of thought among owners, those who think Spanos should be rewarded for taking the time to scour his market for a stadium solution. From his co-owners’ perspective, he’s done that, even though many people in San Diego say there are still options to be exhausted.

Jerry Richardson, owner of the Carolina Panthers and a member of the six-owner Los Angeles Opportunity Committee, is considered a strong supporter of Spanos and the way he has led this process.

Farmer says Houston Texans owner Bob McNair, another powerful voice among NFL owners, agrees with Richardson’s view.

ESPN’s Jim Trotter says the Chargers are probably almost gone.

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, meanwhile, told Farmer there was a “high probability” that one or two teams would play in Los Angeles next fall. Among the questions to be resolved: whether to move both teams to Southern California at the same time, or stagger them so that one team begins playing one season, with the other team joining the next.

Farmer says the NFL wants to make a decision soon, in time for one or more teams to move to Los Angeles by next season.

St. Louis officials are still working on building a new stadium to keep the Rams. Tuesday, National Car Rental accepted to a 20-year, $158 million deal to sponsor a potential new stadium in St. Louis.

Here’s what Jones thinks about this news: