Walt Disney Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Iger has been appointed by the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders to head their joint stadium efforts in Carson in Los Angeles County, the Chargers announced Wednesday.
Iger will serve as the non-executive chairman of Carson Holdings LLC, the joint venture between the two football teams formed in February to work with the city of Carson to build a stadium there.
His position will go into effect if the proposed site in Carson is approved by NFL team owners, who are expected to vote on the proposed move early next year.
“Should owners approve the move, Los Angeles will proudly welcome two incredible teams to our community and build a stadium worthy of their fans,” Iger said in a statement.
He will be responsible for hiring a president and will lead the project on the teams’ involvement with the Carson plan, the fans experience at the stadium, how they will get in and out of the venue, marketing and more.
The announcement coincides with an NFL owners meeting in New York City Wednesday to discuss the status of L.A. proposals by the Chargers, Raiders and St. Louis Rams. San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and County Supervisor Ron Roberts gave a presentation to members of various NFL owners committees to discuss efforts to keep the Chargers in San Diego.
“I talked about the passion of San Diego fans,” Faulconer told reporters after the meeting. “It’s part of the fabric of who we are in San Diego.”
“I think today’s session allowed them to hear directly from us… all of the steps that we have taken and to hear directly from me, as mayor, our commitment to get this done,” Faulconer said.
Faulconer also discussed the city’s proposed 67,500-seat facility in Mission Valley adjacent to Qualcomm Stadium.
“It was very clear to me, all of the owners in the room today are very engaged in this process, have given it a lot of thought,” Faulconer said.
“I think today was a very important part of this ongoing (process) to hear directly from San Diego,” the mayor said. “There was some very positive comments about the design of the stadium, which, I’m biased, but I think is a pretty spectacular building that we have the ability to build.”
Iger was at a company conference in Orlando, Florida, and did not attend the NFL meetings.
—City News Service