Roger Goodell: No decisions yet on Rams, other teams moving to Los Angeles

PHOENIX — The NFL has not made iron-clad determinations on whether a specific league team is closing in on relocating to Los Angeles in the near future, commissioner Roger Goodell said Friday.

“There have been no determinations of us going to Los Angeles, any particular team going to Los Angeles or going to any particular stadium," Goodell said in his annual state of the league address. "We have several alternatives that we are evaluating. There are teams that are interested but are trying to work their issues out. So as a league, we haven’t gotten to that stage yet. It will all be subject to our relocation policy."

Those interested teams potentially include a few — the St. Louis Rams, San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders — who are embroiled in local stadium issues that could force the team to seek a new city to call home. The Rams are the most often-mentioned possibilities to relocate because of team owner Stan Kroenke's purchase of a large tract of land near Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif. and plans to build a football stadium on those grounds.

Goodell previously said that there will be no team in Los Angeles, the country's second-biggest television market with a population of more than 12 million, for the 2015 season. The city previously was home to two franchises — the Rams and Raiders — and potentially could be home to two again, despite there not being a team in the city for more than 20 years now.

Goodell said that before any NFL franchise potentially uproots itself and lands in L.A., or elsewhere, it must be voted on by the membership for approval — a process that might not be a rubber-stamping.

“The ownership takes very seriously the obligation for us all to vote on league matters, including relocation," Goodell said. "There’s a relocation policy; it is very clear. We have shared it with our owners over the last several years. We emphasize the point over each of those meetings: There will be at least one vote — if not multiple votes — on relocation.

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“We would potentially have [votes on] the relocation itself, potential stadium funding, potential [for a] Super Bowl [at the newly relocated team]. So a lot of things likely would be subject to a vote. Our owners take that seriously, and we [the NFL] take that very seriously."

The Rams and Kroenke have been at loggerheads over the outdated Edward Jones Dome — which still hasn't been paid off — as the team's home, and recent talks over a new stadium in St. Louis appear to have made little progress. Despite a local effort to keep the team in town, Kroenke's intentions in California are seen as a real threat for the Rams to move back west.

“Stan has been working on the stadium for St. Louis … for years," Goodell said, when asked if the Rams have adhered properly to the NFL's relocation guidelines. "They had a very formal process. That process — they went through that entire process. It did not result in a solution that works for either St. Louis or for the team.

“I wouldn’t say the stadium [issue] is a surprise to anybody. Any market that is having issues, we have a discussion about it. And St. Louis seems determined to build a stadium, which is something we look forward to working with."

Goodell reiterated that he's comfortable with the league's 32 team staying where they are currently and helping strengthen those respective communities.

“We want all of our franchises to stay in their current markets," Goodell said. "That’s a shared responsibility; that’s something we all have to work together on. The league has programs that we’ve made available. We’re active in the community, including St. Louis.

“We also will make sure that we’re engaged in the business community and the public sector to help us work in those communities, including St. Louis, and make sure that [we] work for the community as well as the team so our teams can be successful over the long haul."

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm