L.A. Benched / Week 14 : Just Call Him the Monty Hall of Football LA

It begins with a phone call: Steve Soboroff calling the NFL to advise it of an interested party in Los Angeles. And then another phone call: Steve Soboroff calling the interested party and telling it how to make contact with the NFL.

It’s a process that has been repeated and repeated for the past few months, and there is no tiring out Soboroff.

“I’m a deal junkie and I smell a deal here that will be good for the NFL and for the city of Los Angeles,” said Soboroff, a real estate consultant and Mayor Richard Riordan’s vice chairman for Football LA. “I think the ingredients are there to get something done, and that’s why I want to be a part of this.

“If I had one wish in this whole thing, it would be for the people of L.A. to understand what a great new venue with numerous Super Bowls being included could do for this city. A Super Bowl means $200-$250 million in economic impact for a city every time you have one. This is way beyond a team just moving to L.A. to play eight games a year.

“This isn’t just about football. It is about community and civic pride, a huge economic engine and the window through which the world will have numerous chances to view Los Angeles in a positive ‘1984 Olympics-like’ light.”