Hahn, NFL Executive to Meet

NFL executive Roger Goodell, the league’s point man on stadium and franchise issues, will be in Los Angeles today on personal business and plans to meet informally with Mayor James Hahn.

“Our office had a good relationship with Mayor [Richard] Riordan, and this is just an opportunity to meet the new mayor,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Thursday.

L.A., the nation’s second-largest TV market, has not had an NFL team since the Raiders and Rams left in 1995. Goodell, the NFL’s executive vice president of business, properties and club services, would be a key player in any attempt to move a franchise and/or build a stadium.

Hahn’s father, Kenneth, the longtime L.A. supervisor, helped get Dodger Stadium built in the 1960s.

James Hahn has expressed an interest in helping bring an NFL franchise back to Los Angeles, but only after completing a lengthy to-do list of more pressing matters.

“The mayor is happy to talk about it,” Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Matt Middlebrook said. “He would love to see the NFL return to Los Angeles. He just doesn’t want to see it happen at the public’s expense.”