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PRINT THIS PAGE | E-MAIL THIS PAGE Thursday, October 29, 1998 NFL will decide between Houston and Los Angeles by winter By DAVE GOLDBERG AP Football Writer KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Either Houston or Los Angeles, deserted by NFL teams during the "franchise free agency boom" of the mid-90s, will probably be back in the NFL by next winter. The league's owners spent most of the day Tuesday listening to pitches from the two cities that were deserted by their teams after the 1995 and 1996 seasons. They did not take a vote, but commissioner Paul Tagliabue said afterward that he expected a decision some time during the winter. Both cities lost teams at the height of the "franchise free agency" period. Los Angeles lost both the Rams and Raiders, the Raiders returning to Oakland, from where they had moved in 1982, and the Rams going to St. Louis. The Oilers committed that same year to leaving Houston, but didn't move until the next year for Tennessee. Tuesday's presentations came from three groups, one from Houston and two from Los Angeles. And while Los Angeles is favored, nothing is decided. "It would be nice to have a team in the Los Angeles area," said Pat Bowlen, the Denver owner. "But Houston's not a small market either." One LA group is headed by Ed Roski, owner of the NHL's Los Angeles Kings, that wants to renovate the Coliseum. The other is headed by former Hollywood agent Michael Ovitz and wants to build a stadium called "The Hacienda" in Carson, 12 miles south of the city in what was originally planned as a shopping mall. The new franchise would join the new Cleveland Browns, scheduled to begin play next season as a replacement for the team Art Modell moved to Baltimore, again after the 1995 season. League officials would like the new team to begin play in 2002 or 2003. And Ovitz and businessman Bob McNair, who heads the Houston group, said they need to have a decision by late this year or early next. "We want to be responsive," Tagliabue said. "I would think we could have something decided early next year." All three groups presented plans for stadiums that they claimed would be as modern as any, and all said their financing was in place. Houston's, to be built in the parking lot of the current Astrodome, would have a retractable roof that could be closed within 10 minutes. The Coliseum's would be what Roski called "the Camden Yards of football," a reference to Baltimore's baseball stadium. And Ovitz's group plans a stadium with a Latin motif on the outside, surrounded by the shopping mall. Tagliabue said it would take time to study all three proposals. And the owners themselves seemed undecided, although Los Angeles has seemed to be an NFL target because it's the nation's second largest television market. The owners took little other action. But Tagliabue reiterated that Dwight Clark, the player personnel director of the 49ers, was likely to stay there through next April's draft despite a move by the Browns to get him to Cleveland. Carmen Policy, the 49ers' former president, is now president of the Browns. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: Enter their email address below: texnews.com Reporter OnLine Local Sports Texas Sports Copyright ©1998, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: Enter their email address below:

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