By Sam Farmer
Los Angeles Times
November 4, 2010
AEG's Tim Leiweke, who heads a group looking to build an NFL stadium next to Staples Center, said the project could be completed in time to host the 50th Super Bowl in February 2016.
Leiweke said his group would ask the NFL to waive its traditional requirement that a venue be open for at least a year before being eligible to host its marquee event. He said that if all goes as planned, a privately financed, $1-billion L.A. stadium could be ready for the 2015 season.
The first Super Bowl was played at the L.A. Coliseum.
"We're asking [the NFL] to look at our track record, the uniqueness of that anniversary, and the place that this city has played in hosting Super Bowls," said Leiweke, AEG's president and chief executive, at a Biltmore Hotel luncheon organized by Town Hall Los Angeles.
Leiweke met with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and other league executives Wednesday in New York, but declined to specify what they discussed.
Leiweke, along with L.A. businessman Casey Wasserman, has proposed a retractable-roof "event center" that would double as sports venue and convention space
