Irvine Offers the NFL a Place to Call Home

It’s been almost three years since professional football left Orange County, when the Rams abandoned Anaheim for St. Louis. The Raiders were right behind them, leaving the Los Angeles Coliseum for their ancestral homeland in Oakland. For the first time in almost 50 years, the Los Angeles basin was left without professional football.

There’s been much public debate in Los Angeles and Orange counties about building a new stadium to lure back the National Football League. You’ve read the proposals. A renovated Coliseum. A new facility at Hollywood Park in Inglewood. A football stadium anchoring a proposed “Sportstown” in Anaheim. Yet none of these plans seem close to reality, as no political consensus exists in those cities to move ahead with a project.

Needless to say, the pundits were somewhat bemused to hear that Irvine is now exploring its own plan for a professional football stadium. Although we were initially dismissed by the naysayers, those who have taken a sober look at the proposal are beginning to realize that Irvine just might be the end zone for Southern California football’s return.

Take a look at a map of Orange County. You’ll notice that three freeways come together in Irvine at what’s known locally as the “Golden Triangle”--the Santa Ana, San Diego and Laguna freeways. By late 1998, the Laguna Freeway will extend north to the Eastern Transportation Corridor, which will connect to the Riverside Freeway near Corona and open South County to the Inland Empire. Add to that the Irvine Transportation Center in the nearby Spectrum, which provides commuter rail and bus transit. In addition, Irvine recently approved plans for a city light rail system that will link the John Wayne Airport area to the Spectrum’s entertainment and high-tech industrial centers. It’s the perfect location for a regional sports facility.

Part of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, scheduled for closure in 1999, is within the city of Irvine’s planning jurisdiction. After a review of many options, Irvine selected a football stadium as one of the highest and best uses for our 440 acres. We envision the stadium as an anchor for a sports and entertainment complex that will bring thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue to Orange County. It’s a clear demonstration of what exciting options are possible for the rest of El Toro, when other alternatives are given a chance for consideration.

Rest assured that Irvine is well aware of the fiscal pitfalls. Too many cities have been held hostage to the Super Bowl sweepstakes, trying to outbid one another for a football franchise. My primary objective with this project is to demonstrate that a world-class sports facility can be built without public funds.

It’s been done before--Walter O’Malley built Dodger Stadium with his own money. More recently, Ericsson Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., and other new sports facilities across the country have been privately financed.

Irvine recently assembled a blue-ribbon committee of 20 local CEOs. They are charged with overseeing a feasibility study conducted by independent sports financing experts to determine the best means of creating a fiscally responsible private sector model. We’re touring other stadiums, talking to NFL officials, and enlisting sports industry experts. When complete, we will market our concept to the countywide community, so we speak with one voice.

Irvine’s national reputation for master planning, environmental foresight, ideal climate and safe and secure neighborhoods will demonstrate to the NFL that we’re the best city to award its next expansion.