AEG’s Tim Leiweke has said that, unless the company that hopes to build an NFL stadium in downtown L.A. can’t get a so-called “memorandum of understanding” in place with the Los Angeles City Council by July 31, AEG will pull the plug on the project.
As it turns out, we apparently won’t have to find out whether that’s an idle threat.
Per Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com, the powers-that-be expect that the memorandum of understanding will be finalized before the end of July.
“Today was a big day for sports fans in Los Angeles because we’re talking about a private entity trying to creatively bring a football team or two to downtown Los Angeles,” council member Tony Cardenas said. “I’m optimistic. We have the attention of a private party that is willing to foot the bill and I’m very confident that we have the professionals to get us there.”
Key words: “Or two.”
The memorandum of understanding doesn’t constitute a binding commitment or contract to build the stadium, but it lays the foundation for further negotiations and progress. With it, there’s no guarantee the deal gets done. Without it, it’s guaranteed that it won’t.