NFL Teams Often Use L.A. to Get Better Deals to Stay Where They Are
The scene was unremarkable: a white Gulfstream parked alongside a chain-link fence at Van Nuys Airport. The most conspicuous part of the plane was the large blue horseshoe near the top of the tail — the signature logo of the Indianapolis Colts.
It came off as a thinly veiled message — not to the people of Los Angeles, but to those back in Indiana worried their NFL team might leave. The Colts were looking to squeeze their city for a better deal.
Three years later, in 2005, the Colts broke ground on $720-million Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis, with the team paying $100 million and the city and state kicking in the rest.
L.A. had again been jilted by another in a long line of would-be suitors. L.A. has been more valuable to the NFL without a team than with one, and owners have used the threat of moving here to improve aging stadiums and bolster bottom lines.
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