Local bias isn’t an issue for the NFL Network

I HAVE some exciting news about professional football and its future in L.A.

The NFL has already made the decision to expand in Culver City with long-range plans to bring more and more football games here.

And it won’t cost us another dime.

IN A move that speaks to the entertainment capital in a language it can understand and the way it views the NFL these days, the league recently increased its number of employees here to 175 and took control of a second sound stage in Culver City to further enhance its comprehensive TV coverage of the sport.

Hard to grasp after all the empty rhetoric and stadium nonsense lately pitting L.A. against the NFL, but on Saturday, the league will celebrate the third anniversary of the NFL Network in Culver City.

It’s a network that was born and raised here, reaching 41 million homes and dedicated to 24/7 coverage of 32 NFL teams -- none of which play here. Mr. NFL Network, the very polished Rich Eisen, reports on league happenings daily -- from a set in L.A.

For some reason a “set in L.A.” seems more fitting here than another football team that might disappoint. We already have to deal with that most Saturdays when UCLA is scheduled to play.

THIS IS the entertainment capital, so why force a team, billionaire or new stadium down the throats of people who maybe lack the fanatic passion of those stuck in Philadelphia or Buffalo? Just make sure the DirecTV bill has been paid on time.

I believe most folks in L.A. now view pro football like a made-for-TV movie. The good games draw huge audiences here, while Arizona versus Washington loses out to the mall or a good nap.

Last week, the No. 1-ranked TV show of any kind in the country was the Colts-Broncos game, followed by “Desperate Housewives,” a show, as I understand it, dealing with married life in Nebraska.

In L.A., though, the No. 1 show was Tuesday’s “Dancing with the Stars.”

And the second-most watched TV show in L.A. was “Dancing with the Stars” on Wednesday. We do like our stars here. Consider the ratings in L.A. if Magic or Kobe ever took up dancing -- and especially if they were partners.

We still like our football, though, and I would imagine even more so if it came on after Magic and Kobe were finished dancing. The fifth- and sixth-most watched television shows in L.A. last week were NFL games.

But the L.A. NFL experience now is all about the games on TV, which makes the NFL Network right at home here.

If the NFL is going to grow here on a sound stage, why pay for parking, seat licenses or concessions? Why listen to NFL ultimatums or politicians trying to curry NFL favor? That’s been fun the last few years.

Why get all lathered up by the prospect of becoming neighbors with a football player and then worrying one day he will be led off in handcuffs because of some drug offense or assault charge?

Who needs a $1-billion stadium when all you have to do is turn on the TV any day of the week and get coverage of every news conference, preseason game or news-breaking item? Thanks to the NFL Network, it’s making it easy to ignore any talk about the return of the NFL. We’ve already got it 24/7, and just the way we like it.

We also have the NFL contributing to our economy in Culver City, and each week the rest of the nation is reminded as they tune into the NFL Network, the league had to come here to find celebrities and former players willing to go on the air.

Once L.A. gets an NFL team, everyone will be expected to buy a ticket or the games won’t be shown on local TV. Once a fan starts to invest emotion in a home team, it can become painful.

If you are a Time Warner cable subscriber, you will not be able to watch the Thanksgiving night game between the Broncos and Chiefs, the first of eight regular-season games to be telecast on the NFL Network.

The Broncos fans, who live in Boulder, Colo., are going to miss the game, and are already angry but remain helpless to change it. If we get in a situation like that around here, we’ve just got to drive to Culver City and knock the door down.

I believe that makes it pretty clear that we’re better off having the NFL Network here than a new stadium or some team so down on its luck it had to move here. So I say to the NFL Network, happy anniversary, and many more.

I RECEIVED an e-mail before Wednesday night’s games from someone who keeps track of this stuff, and learned the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas says the odds of the Lakers winning the NBA championship are 12-1. The guys in Vegas must really have been impressed with Andrew Bynum.

They have the Clippers at 15-1, which doesn’t mesh with the popular opinion in some quarters that the Clippers will have a better season than the Lakers.

TODAY’S LAST word comes from Mel Francisco, Laker Fan for Life:

“What other journalist would even be looking at Jeanie Buss during a game? And worse yet, then making snide remarks (about her signaling to her boyfriend to call a timeout). It is quite obvious you are not a Laker fan.”

I was just being a good Laker fan and watching the Laker Girls.

But for the record, another reporter, who would prefer to remain nameless and who works for Channel 2, was apparently ogling Jeanie. He noticed Jeanie signaling her boyfriend and then alerted me. I’m telling you, Jim Hill doesn’t miss a thing.

T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers @latimes.com. To read previous columns by Simers, go to latimes.com/simers.