Carson Opts to Quit While It’s Behind in NFL Race

The straggler in the Los Angeles stadium derby quit Sunday before it could be cut by the NFL.

In a decision that was abrupt but not surprising, Carson opted out of the race two days before league owners are to meet in Washington in part to discuss bringing football back to the nation’s second-largest market. The choice was made during an hour-long emergency meeting of the Carson City Council called by Mayor Jim Dear.

“The timing wasn’t right for an NFL stadium,” Dear said. “But the timing is right for a large regional mall. We looked at the numbers and the mall is much more attractive for the long-term health of the city.”

The NFL has been in close contact with Carson during the past week and evidently made it clear that the other three concepts were ahead by a significant margin. Each of the other three -- the Coliseum, Rose Bowl and Anaheim -- has a certified environmental impact report for its proposed stadium plan. The Carson site, a 157-acre toxic landfill that sits between the Harbor and San Diego freeways, has been vacant since it was a dump in the 1960s. Cleaning it up would have been a major added expense.

Neil Glat, the NFL executive who has been analyzing the four sites, said Carson’s decision was not a surprise to the league.

“We support and respect their decision not to move forward with us,” Glat said.

Instead of pursuing the NFL, the city will move ahead with plans to create a mixed-use development on the site. The designs call for a major retail center, movie theaters and about 1,500 housing units.

“It was an evolutionary thing,” Ron Winkler, Carson’s economic development manager, said of the decision to pull out. “As everyone had a better understanding of the development opportunities and what the cost was, the investment of public and private money, we decided to move on.”

So, while backers of the other concepts will be monitoring closely what transpires in Washington this week, a contingent from Carson will be attending the International Council of Shopping Centers in Las Vegas. Dear and Winkler traveled to that convention Sunday, as did City Manager Jerry Groomes and developer Steve Hopkins, who is scheduled to close escrow on the site in mid-December.

Groomes said it was important for retailers to know heading into the Las Vegas event whether Carson was going to move forward with its stadium bid.

“The timing was crucial,” Groomes said. “It also makes it less complicated for NFL owners and less complicated for us.”

Glat is scheduled to make a presentation to NFL owners Wednesday in which he will detail the pros and cons of the various concepts. Representatives of the Coliseum and Rose Bowl will travel to Washington for the two-day proceedings, although they have not been invited to sit in on the meetings.

With Carson out of the picture, it would be somewhat surprising if the owners were to make any cuts at these meetings.

“We have three really viable alternatives,” said Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots and a member of the league’s so-called Los Angeles Working Group. “There are three concrete alternatives, each of which is intriguing in its own right.”

Carson’s mayor didn’t rule out the possibility of the league taking an interest in his city down the road. He said there are other sites in Carson that could accommodate a stadium.

“Timing is everything,” Dear said. “Someday the NFL might want a second team in L.A., and might look at Carson again.”