As it has been for some time, uncertainty elsewhere provides our only hope.

Some day – maybe, and maybe soon – what happens in San Diego will matter.

For now, after a languid decade that led to a frantic year, we must wait a few more days to see what the NFL decides about how and when and which of its teams will move to Los Angeles.

The owners of all 32 NFL teams on Tuesday morning will commence two days of meetings at a hotel in Houston. History could be made by Wednesday evening.


All indications are that owners will agree the Chargers, Oakland Raiders and St. Louis Rams have met the qualifications for relocation. Then comes the difficult part. They must decide which teams and which site will comprise the NFL’s return to the nation’s second-largest marker after a 20-year absence.

Will it be the $1.7 billion Carson stadium project being proposed by the Chargers and Raiders? Will it be the nearly $1.9 billion Inglewood stadium championed by the Rams? If it is Inglewood, which of the other two teams, if either, joins the Rams? How does the league take care of the team(s) that are left out of L.A.?

So many questions. Here are some answers, as gleaned from discussions with multiple team owners and executives and other league sources intimately involved in the process.

How will the voting go in Houston?


It is not known exactly how the vote will proceed. Any owner can propose an amendment or resolution. At the outset Tuesday, owners will hear once again from league staff and the teams looking to relocate. Discussion between all 32 owners will follow, and owners will be encouraged to reach a consensus. It is believed the vote will start as a referendum on Carson vs. Inglewood. However, neither site is expected to initially get the required 24 votes (three-quarters of the ownership). Voting and discussion/debate will continue until a solution is reached or – if the vote is deadlocked more than four or so votes from 24 – the meeting will likely adjourn with the intention of reaching a brokered agreement. There is the option for a secret ballot, though it is the accountability of being in the room and having each vote known that many are counting on to facilitate a conclusion. The league is preparing for the contingency of an extra day being necessary in Houston and even for the possibility of another gathering to vote the following week.

Will there be a team in Los Angeles in 2016?

Almost certainly. Owners believe the readiness of the proposed L.A. projects makes the timing right. Commissioner Roger Goodell, who has made his intentions known to many owners, is expected to officially endorse an immediate return. There is a nearly unanimous sentiment among owners that the Chargers have exhausted efforts in San Diego, and there is a desire by many owners to reward Rams owner Stan Kroenke for his Inglewood project being the catalyst for the frenetic work done toward this end over the past 12 months. Further, owners are tired of this issue. The league is actually counting on that fatigue to be part of the impetus to get a vote done.

Will there be two teams in L.A.?


Again, almost certainly. However, it still could be that one team is approved to move immediately and another conditionally. Various sources have laid out multiple possibilities that have been discussed at the committee level and could end up on the table in Houston. The Carson site could be approved, and the Chargers and Raiders could move. The Inglewood site could win, and the Rams would move with a high likelihood that one of the other teams would be their partner/tenant. The frontrunner to be that second team is the Chargers. However, it still is possible owners would vote to approve the Chargers relocation bid while allowing for a 2016 vote in San Diego. If a financing plan was not approved by San Diego voters, the Chargers would then be allowed to move to Los Angeles.

So San Diego still has a chance?

Yes. There are some who believe some sort of partnership between Chargers chairman Dean Spanos and Kroenke will yet be brokered – either in Houston or in the days following. However, an effect of having that partnership forced on him could be that Spanos decides to give San Diego one more try. This scenario is considered a longshot due to the staunch belief by the team and the NFL that a vote in San Diego will fail. But some believe a last-ditch attempt in San Diego could be more attractive to Spanos than simply conceding to become the No.2 team in L.A. And that’s not our only opportunity for a rebound …

What happens to the team that is not approved to relocate?


The NFL will not send a team back to its home market with no options. The foremost prospect has the Raiders being the odd team out, returning to Oakland and waiting. The NFL holds little faith something will get done in Oakland, but there is a commitment by the league to facilitate their next move. Raiders owner Mark Davis, in fact, is seen by some as practically eager to move to San Diego. Should the Rams be denied, virtually no one in the NFL expects Stan Kroenke to remain in St. Louis indefinitely. London or San Diego are the leading potential landing spots if he can’t be in Los Angeles. The NFL will be closely watching how San Diego responds if it loses the Chargers – primarily Mayor Kevin Faulconer and other officials. The league has noted a subtle shift in the private tone of city officials – from one focused on the immediate goal of keeping the Chargers to a more long-term play to be “an NFL city.” Most important, San Diego would still have to approve some sort of public financing before a team officially agrees to move there. It has been proposed that the NFL could help the “losing” team with extra money to build in its home market or even waive or reduce a relocation fee if it were to move to one of the vacated markets.

Could Kroenke build his stadium without the Rams receiving approval to relocate?

Yes. For that matter, both teams could build a stadium. But it is highly unlikely. The league won’t help finance two stadiums. There will be just one G4 loan.

Can San Diego keep the Chargers name and logo?


It is not likely. The Spanos family is attached to the brand. In Los Angeles, they would likely alter their uniforms at some point, perhaps going back to powder blue scheme. The NFL investigated the idea of requiring the name to remain in San Diego as a goodwill gesture, but it believes that it is far more likely an existing team moves to San Diego and wouldn’t want to adopt the Chargers name. The NFL also believes it would actually be good for fans (and the league) to have a villain in the Chargers for San Diego fans to root against should the city get another team.