With the folks from AEG building momentum toward the building of a new football stadium in downtown Los Angeles, the man who has a shovel-ready project in the nearby City of Industry has yet to throw in the trowel.
Ed Roski recently made his case for an open-air venue to Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times. And one point Roski makes should resonate with fans who prefer their football-watching experience to include hours of pregame and postgame tailgating. Unlike Farmers Field, which would be shoehorned into the L.A. Live entertainment complex, Roski’s venue would allow for the kind of large parking lots that are conducive to SUVs full of coolers and grills and overfilled bags of grub.
“You want it outside, with big tents and room for parties, even room for things to do after the games,” Roski said. “This is Southern California. We have the weather.”
Roski, who owns a casino, says that he’d give it to his children if he were able to buy an NFL team and move it to Los Angeles.
Even though it currently looks like Roski’s bid will lose, he won’t be a sore loser. “If the downtown site wins the first thing is that I will be happy the city got a team,” Roski said. “It’s one of those things where I don’t care if it is in my backyard or your backyard — let’s just get a team back.”
It’s looking like that will indeed happen. But it’s still not clear whether the team(s) will be playing in downtown L.A. or in a remote location that would, on game days, operate more like the full football experience should.