History of the National Football League in Los Angeles Professional American football , especially its established top level , the National Football League , has had a long history in Los Angeles , the center of the second - largest media market in the United States . Since 1995 , Los Angeles has been by far the largest U . S . market without an NFL team . It is currently more than double the size of any other North American market to get serious consideration for a team , Toronto , which is in turn more than double the size of any other non - NFL market . The NFL and other professional leagues have had multiple teams in Los Angeles between 1946 and 1994 , all of which originally played home games in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum . The nearest team for the area is the Chargers which are located in San Diego . In 1946 , the Los Angeles Dons of the All - America Football Conference started play , lasting four years before folding with the demise of the AAFC . Also in 1946 , the Cleveland Rams became the first National Football League ( NFL ) franchise to locate in Los Angeles . The Rams moved to Anaheim Stadium for 1980 , and left southern California altogether in 1995 for St . Louis . The AFL founded the Los Angeles Chargers in 1960 , who subsequently moved to San Diego the following year . The Oakland Raiders moved to Los Angeles in 1982 , only to return to Oakland after the 1994 season . There were problems with the filling all of the 90 , 000 - plus seats in the Coliseum to avoid a television blackout in the Los Angeles area . The lack of an NFL team in Los Angeles is an issue the league and the city have been working on to resolve since the Raiders left . One key sticking point had been whether the Coliseum should be the primary venue for a new team , or whether a lower capacity NFL - specific stadium should be built in the area . In November 2007 , Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa declared that the policy of requiring the NFL to relocate to the Coliseum will change and other options will be explored . There have been other professional football teams in the city , including PCPFL teams during World War II , XFL , AFL , USFL , and WFL . On August 9 , 2011 , the LA City Council approved a proposal to build Farmers Field in a 12 - 0 vote . The new stadium will enable an NFL team to move to Los Angeles . The stadium will be located in Downtown Los Angeles as part of the LA Live complex and is expected to be completed by 2016 . The early years . The first NFL team to name itself after the city of Los Angeles was the Los Angeles Buccaneers in . However , this was a road team , based in Chicago , made up of Californians , primarily University of California and University of Southern California alumni . The historian Michael McCambridge says that the Buccaneers became a road team because the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission had banned pro teams from its stadium . However , the difficulty of transcontinental travel in the era before modern air travel must have also been a factor in the decision to base the team in the Midwest . The upstart American Football League also featured a similar Midwest - based road team of West Coast players , the Los Angeles Wildcats . Both Los Angeles teams performed respectably on the field but folded after the 1926 season . Ironically , the Wildcats ' last game was an exhibition in San Francisco against the Buccaneers in January 1927 . The first major professional football team to actually reside in Los Angeles was the Los Angeles Bulldogs , who operated both as an independent and as a member of several other leagues from approximately 1934 to 1948 , in its later years reduced to minor status . The NFL had actually admitted the Bulldogs to the league for the 1937 NFL season , but reneged on the agreement because of travel concerns ( the great distance between the Bulldogs and every other team , plus having to cross the Rocky Mountains in an era when travel by airplane was still a rare and hazardous endeavor , proved to be too much of a risk for the NFL to be willing to take ) . The NFL All Star Game / Pro Bowl and Super Bowl in and around Los Angeles . The NFL did play its first league All - Star Games ( which later became known as the Pro Bowl ) in Los Angeles . L . A . ' s Wrigley Field hosted the first All - Star Game after the 1938 season . Gilmore Stadium in Los Angeles hosted the 1939 and 1940 All - Star Games following the respective NFL seasons . The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was the site of the Pro Bowl from 1950 through 1972 . The 1979 Pro Bowl was also held at the Coliseum . In 1980 , the Pro Bowl moved to Aloha Stadium on the island of Oahu in Hawaii , where it has been held ever since except in 2010 . The first Super Bowl , known as the AFL - NFL World Championship Game , and later Super Bowl I was played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1967 . The Coliseum also hosted Super Bowl VII . The Rose Bowl in Pasadena also has hosted Super Bowls XI , XIV , XVII , XXI , and XXVII . NFL franchises in Los Angeles 1946 – 1994 . The Rams . In , the defending NFL champions , the Cleveland Rams moved to Los Angeles . The other league owners were not pleased with the move , but the league relented due in large part to concern that Los Angeles could potentially become the nucleus of a rival league . The Rams played home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum , which had originally been built to host the 1932 Summer Olympic Games and which was also the home of the USC Trojans and the UCLA Bruins . The Rams made history their first season in 1946 , when they signed the NFL ' s first African - American players since the early 1930s : former UCLA stars Kenny Washington and Woody Strode . Also in 1946 , the upstart All - America Football Conference began play : the AAFC ' s Los Angeles Dons also played at the Coliseum . When the AAFC folded in 1950 , the Dons went out of business , but the AAFC ' s San Francisco 49ers were admitted to the NFL . This provided the NFL with a workable pair of West Coast cities for travel . Another AAFC franchise which moved over to the NFL was the Cleveland Browns , who were based in the city the Rams had deserted . The Browns and the Rams met in the 1950 NFL Championship Game , and the Browns won the game 30 – 28 . The Rams quickly became established as an NFL power , winning 7 straight divisional titles from 1973 - 1979 , with top quarterbacks like Roman Gabriel and the legendary Fearsome Foursome , consisting of Jack Youngblood , Fred Dryer , Merlin Olsen and Larry Brooks . Rams move to Anaheim . By 1979 the Rams were a successful franchise , and made it to their first Super Bowl that year . However , they had long been dissatisfied with the L . A . Coliseum , due to its size ( the cavernous venue sold out very infrequently , causing blackouts of Rams games on local TV ) , its location ( in South Central Los Angeles , perceived to be one of the city ' s more dangerous neighborhoods ) , and its lack of nearby parking . At various times they shared the stadium with both the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins football teams . Ownership ( Carroll Rosenbloom , followed by his widow Georgia Frontiere ) was unable to persuade the city to build a new stadium in Los Angeles , so they decided to move out of the Coliseum to Anaheim ( 28 miles southeast of downtown L . A . ) in Orange County , which was then experiencing an enormous boom in population and construction . Beginning in 1980 , the Rams played in Anaheim Stadium , which already had a football press box built into the upper deck when it opened in 1966 . Further renovations included enclosing the facility by extending the stadium ' s three decks ( the baseball outfield area had previously been open to the outside ) , and building luxury suites in the mezzanine " club " level . Three teams had previously played home games in Anaheim Stadium prior to the Rams ' move : the Southern California Sun of the World Football League and the now - defunct football programs at Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State . During the Rams ' stay in Anaheim , they were the stadium ' s sole football tenant and shared it with the California Angels baseball team . Rams move to St . Louis . Rams owner Georgia Frontiere began to shop around for a new home for her team , which was falling behind other NFL teams in luxury - box and other non - shared revenue . By the end of the season , talks had begun with St . Louis and Baltimore ; meanwhile , she was hoping that Anaheim and / or Orange County would also make an attractive offer . Anaheim , going through a recession , could not agree on a tax package to pay for the improvements that Frontiere insisted on , so they dropped out of the bidding . Rams fans , bothered by Frontiere talking to other cities about moving the franchise , voiced their anger by asking for her to sell the team , booing her and starting derogatory chants at games directed at her . Attendance began dwindling , due to frustration by the fans over ownership and the performance by the team on the field . Eventually , St . Louis gave Frontiere the offer she wanted , a brand - new $ 280 million domed stadium called the " Trans World Dome " ( currently the Edward Jones Dome ) with a long - term lease and over 100 luxury boxes . The move was announced in February 1995 and approved by NFL owners that April . The Rams played their last game as the Los Angeles Rams on Christmas Eve 1994 , losing 24 – 21 to the Washington Redskins in front of only 25 , 750 fans in attendance at Anaheim Stadium . During the 2009 off season , following Frontiere ' s death , it was announced the Rams were for sale . It was considered possible that the next owner of the Rams could potentially move the team back to Los Angeles ; however , this prospect became much less likely when then - minority owner Stan Kroenke , a Missouri native and resident , acquired complete control in August 2010 . The Raiders . The Coliseum next received an NFL team in , when the Oakland Raiders moved to Los Angeles to become the Los Angeles Raiders . Team owner Al Davis relocated there without the approval of his fellow owners or NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle . One major factor for Davis in moving to the Coliseum despite its flaws as a football stadium was his assumption that the NFL would eventually approve pay - per - view telecasts for its games ; such a move would potentially have given the Raiders a virtual TV monopoly in Los Angeles , the nation ' s second - largest TV market . Davis also counted on being able to persuade the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission to renovate the facility , particularly by installing scores of luxury box es . The Raiders continued the success they had in Oakland after the move south , winning Super Bowl XVIII in January 1984 and reaching the AFC Championship Game after the season . But the team gained a controversial reputation off the field , as its silver and black colors became associated with L . A . ' s notorious street gang s . More importantly , the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission never gave Davis the lucrative package of amenities he had been promised , and the NFL ' s broadcast contracts never instituted pay - per - view . Davis entertained an offer from Irwindale , California ( east of downtown L . A . ) in , but did not move there . Prior to 1993 , the Coliseum Commission approved multiple changes to enhance the stadium as a football facility : Capacity was reduced , the field was lowered , the surrounding running track was removed , bleachers were replaced by single seats , and locker rooms and fan restrooms were upgraded . The Coliseum briefly fielded another professional football team , the Los Angeles Express of the United States Football League , from 1983 to 1985 . The league played in the springtime , avoiding stadium conflicts with the NFL and the Raiders . Raiders return to Oakland . Due in no small part to the decision by the Los Angeles Sports Commission to halt further planned renovations to the Coliseum due to repair costs generated by the 1994 Northridge earthquake , Al Davis gave up on Los Angeles , and decided to accept a new stadium renovation offer from Oakland , California and to return to his team ' s former home . The renovation expanded the Oakland - Alameda County Coliseum to 63 , 000 seats and added 86 luxury boxes and thousands of club seats . The deal was announced on June 23 , and approved by league owners on August 9 of that year . The Raiders , like the Rams , played their last game in L . A . on Christmas Eve 1994 , losing 19 – 9 to the Kansas City Chiefs in front of 64 , 130 in attendance at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum . AFL franchise in Los Angeles . In , the American Football League ( AFL ) was formed . The now - San Diego Chargers played their first season in Los Angeles , but moved to San Diego in 1961 . Since 1995 : Major developments . Within months of the moves of the Rams and Raiders , several NFL teams were rumored to be replacements . They included the Cleveland Browns , the Cincinnati Bengals , the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , and the Seattle Seahawks . However , the Browns moved to become the Baltimore Ravens in amid major controversy , and a new Browns team occupied a new stadium in . The Bengals , Buccaneers and Seahawks , meanwhile , used L . A . ' s vacancy as leverage to convince their cities to help finance new stadiums . Other developments have included : Repercussions . Neither the Rams nor Raiders sold out many games while playing in the L . A . area , where they were expected to sell 90 , 000 tickets a game for Rams and Raiders teams at the Coliseum ( several seats were closed off during the time the Raiders called the Coliseum home , also , games between the two teams from 1982 - 94 " did " sell out , due to the prospect of a crosstown rivalry ) . Those games were blacked out in accord with the NFL ' s " 72 - hour rule . " The Raiders have since struggled to sell out games in Oakland while the Rams were able to get a deal to return to owner Georgia Frontiere ' s hometown of St . Louis where they were guaranteed sellout revenues . However , since about 2006 the Rams have been struggling to sell out games in St . Louis . Before his death , Raiders owner Al Davis grew frustrated with Oakland city officials for allegedly duping them into packing their bags in 1994 and sued the city multiple times . He also claimed that the NFL had interfered with his negotiations to build a new stadium in Hollywood Park and subsequently forced the Raiders to take Oakland ' s offer in a lawsuit that was just recently settled in favor of the league . Davis still stated that the rights to the L . A . market belonged to him and had tried to interfere with attempts to put a new team there by lamenting his desire to still play there and that if he did not that he should have been compensated for the fee the league charged him when he moved there . Potential league expansion . In 2012 , NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell appeared on " Costas Live " on NBC Sports Network to discuss a possibility of football in L . A . Goodell said that he wouldn ' t like any team to relocate to the city . The commissioner said that if L . A . were to get a team , the league would have to expand to 34 teams , with one of them in L . A . and the other one either also in the city , or in London . Los Angeles as a bargaining chip . Cynics also claim that the National Football League teams do not truly want an NFL franchise in Los Angeles , as it would remove the threat of actually moving an existing team to Los Angeles , a major bargaining chip in negotiations for new stadiums . Building , renovating , or even maintaining a stadium to the caliber of most NFL teams can cost over US $ 100 million , and teams that need such work done can often convince municipalities to foot some or all of the cost of this work , preserving the teams ' profits ; this , however , hinges on the perceived threat of the team moving elsewhere . A team in Los Angeles leaves those teams without a major relocation option , giving the municipalities greater leverage over the teams ( and , by extension , the league ) . Proposed stadiums . Then - Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger championed a new football stadium in Anaheim in tandem with a new L . A . Coliseum . There are reports , however , that NFL owners will not approve a return to the L . A . area until two teams commit to play in a single new stadium ( similar to the New York Giants and New York Jets , first in Giants Stadium and from 2010 in the New Meadowlands Stadium ) . Due to worldwide increases in the prices of steel , concrete and fuel some cost estimates for new stadiums have exceeded $ 1 billion . As a result , it will be difficult for the league to privately finance one stadium , let alone two . In response to rising cost estimates for a new stadium , NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has said that returning the NFL to Los Angeles will require the league to consider unspecified " alternative solutions . " The National Football League is not planning on expanding , so one or more teams would have to relocate to justify any new stadium projects . The three teams which used to play in Los Angeles but moved elsewhere ( the San Diego Chargers , St . Louis Rams and Oakland Raiders ) have all been rumored to be open to moving back . Four other teams — Buffalo Bills , Jacksonville Jaguars , Minnesota Vikings , and the San Francisco 49ers — have also been identified as possible prime tenants of a new stadium . Near the end of the 2010 season , two of those seven teams suffered severe problems with their current facilities . The roof of the Hubert H . Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis collapsed after record - breaking snowfall in December 2010 , forcing the Minnesota Vikings to play their last two home games elsewhere . The first game was delayed one day and was moved to Ford Field in Detroit . The second one was played as scheduled in Minneapolis on Monday Night Football , but it was moved across town to TCF Bank Stadium , home of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers . Also in December 2010 , Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego flooded , although no Chargers home games were moved or delayed as a result . These issues led to plans to build new stadiums for the Vikings and the Chargers . Other than Los Angeles , the NFL has returned to every city it vacated in the modern era ( Oakland , Baltimore , St . Louis , Cleveland and Houston ) . The 2009 NFL season was L . A . ' s 15th year with no franchise , thus eclipsing Oakland for the longest duration in the modern era that a former NFL city has lacked a franchise ( 17 years as of the 2011 NFL Season ) . In an open letter on its labor blog , the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell brought up Los Angeles first when writing about the need to finance and construct new stadiums with a new collective bargaining agreement . There has been talk of bringing two expansion teams to Los Angeles after a new collective bargaining agreement is achieved . Coliseum renovation . A renovated Coliseum would seat 65 , 000 for most major events , expanding to about 80 , 000 for Super Bowls and University of Southern California ( USC ) home games . The Coliseum would retain the peristyle section and columns that are part of the current stadium , in a design similar to Soldier Field in Chicago , which is the home of the Chicago Bears . This stadium is supported by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Los Angeles City Council approved a preliminary financing plan and environmental impact report in 2006 . But the Exposition Park area still carries safety concerns among some fans . In October 2006 , a new doubt was cast over the Coliseum ' s future as a possible venue , as reports surfaced that the Coliseum Commission was negotiating to hand over control of the stadium to USC , which could preclude any plans to renovate the stadium for the NFL . Pat Lynch , the Coliseum ' s general manager , claimed in a panel discussion in December 2006 that the true cost of a new Coliseum would be closer to $ 650 million . In December 2007 , talks between USC and the Coliseum Commission broke down and the USC Athlectic department made public their threat to leave . In February 2008 the Coliseum Commission and USC came to a tentative agreement that would keep USC Trojans football in place for the next 25 years with an option for a total of 47 years . The agreement would require the Commission to pay for upgrades including replacement of the seats , field , drainage system , and the fence around the stadium . In addition to the basic improvements the deal would see upgrades to the sound and lighting systems , new elevators and escalators , new videoboards and scoreboards , new restrooms and concession areas . In return , USC will agree to pay the equivalent of 8 % of all gross ticket sales for home games and 50 % of all game day expenses that the stadium incurs . In addition , USC will pay the Commission 8 % of all revenue from television broadcasts from games where fewer than 70 , 000 people are in attendance . The deal also includes a right of consent for USC for any amateur or professional team seeking permission to play in the Coliseum . The Commission and the Trojans will cooperate to find a naming - rights sponsor for the Coliseum . USC will also receive a seat on the Coliseum Commission for as long as the school remains at the stadium . Anaheim stadium site . A stadium site in Anaheim has been proposed on and off over the last decade . The latest plan is for a 60 , 000 - to - 70 , 000 - seat stadium located adjacent to the Rams ' old home , Anaheim Stadium ( now Angel Stadium of Anaheim ) . Those stadiums , as well as the Honda Center ( formerly Arrowhead Pond ) , apartments , shops , and restaurants , would be part of a " Platinum Triangle " development . Carson site . A 70 , 000 - seat stadium was proposed for Carson , on a site bordered by Interstates 110 and 405 . The stadium and team would have been owned by Hollywood executive Michael Ovitz . But the site is full of toxins and other environmental problems , and eventually for that reason , as well as a failure of Carson to approve a financing plan , it was abandoned . The latest plans are to build The Boulevards at South Bay ( formerly Avalon at South Bay and Carson Marketplace ) , a mixed - use development which will include homes , apartments , a 200 - room hotel , and a retail power center . Construction is contingent on an extensive cleanup of the site , which as of spring 2009 was continuing . Developers hope to open at least part of the site in 2011 . Carson does have a sports complex , The Home Depot Center , on the campus of California State University , Dominguez Hills . Dodger Stadium site . The Dodger Stadium parking lot has been discussed by NFL owners , in private , as possibly being the best site in Southern California to build a new professional football stadium . Officials with the Dodgers and the NFL met in secret twice in 2005 to discuss the possibility of constructing a stadium and retail complex adjacent to Dodger Stadium . The New 49ers Stadium is also a stadium being planned in the parking lot of a venue After the " Boston Herald " reported the details of the plan , political pressure forced both the NFL and Dodgers owner Frank McCourt to deny that either party was aggressively pursuing the idea . City of Industry . Edward P . Roski , a part - owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Kings , has announced plans for a new stadium on the northern side of the interchange of State Routes 57 and 60 ( almost east of downtown LA ) with the purpose of attracting a team to the Los Angeles region . Roski , who built the Staples Center , stated that the new 75 , 000 seat stadium , which is part of a 600 acre entertainment and retail project , would all be privately financed and would be the centerpiece of a new entertainment complex in the City of Industry . Three teams have been mention as potential candidates for relocation : former Los Angeles teams San Diego Chargers , St . Louis Rams , and Oakland Raiders . The Buffalo Bills , Jacksonville Jaguars , Minnesota Vikings , and San Francisco 49ers are no longer a candidate for relocation . The project is cleared to begin construction though it is waiting on the negotiations of the NFL ' s commitment to relocate a team ( or possibility two ) to Los Angeles . Downtown Los Angeles . Casey Wasserman and Tim Leiweke have investigated the probability of building a 72 , 000 - seat stadium behind Staples Center , where the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center now sits . In December Leiweke set a deadline anticipating a cleared negotiation with Los Angeles over control of the current convention center and ownership of the land and an agreement with the NFL over the likelihood of a team moving to Los Angeles . AEG owner Philip Anschutz currently is not in support of the project . Anschutz has discussed with three teams : former Los Angeles teams : San Diego Chargers , St . Louis Rams , and Oakland Raiders . The Buffalo Bills may also relocate due to their lease at Ralph Wilson Stadium expiring after the 2012 NFL Season and that they have no new stadium in the works . The Jacksonville Jaguars , Minnesota Vikings , and San Francisco 49ers are no longer candidates for relocation . On August 9 , 2011 , the LA City Council approved plans to build Farmers Field in a 12 - 0 vote . If an NFL team relocates to Los Angeles , the stadium could open in 2016 . In fiction . In the Season 7 " Entourage " episode " Buzzed " , the fictional Hollywood agent Ari Gold is offered to run an NFL franchise in Los Angeles after he impresses the NFL board , but fails to win the contract to sell the NFL media rights . In the 1984 film " Against All Odds " Jeff Bridges ' character plays for a fictional team , the L . A . Outlaws . The 1991 action film " The Last Boy Scout " revolves around a fictional team , the L . A . Stallions . In the 1978 film " Heaven Can Wait " , Warren Beatty is the quarterback of the Los Angeles Rams . The 2011 book " Between the Lies " by Marv Levy has a fictional NFL team from Los Angeles called the Los Angeles Leopards as one of the best teams in the NFL , along with the Portland Pioneers . The 2008 Midway Games video game featured a team called the L . A . Riot who played in Los Angeles and was the antagonist to the created players team .