California luring a football team

Let the panic begin! California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s spokesman says he’ll sign a bill waiving an environmental impact report for a developer’s proposal to build a football stadium on the outskirts of Los Angeles.

Opponents have criticized the governor’s intention to sign the measure, asking why a football stadium gets the waiver when hospitals and other businesses don’t? And there’s the faint aroma of tainted politics, too. The state senator whose vote moved the bill forward in the Assembly, happens to have a wife who works for the developer.

Now to find a team willing to move. Pro Football Talk says the Bills, Jaguars, Raiders, Chargers, Vikings, Rams, and 49ers are candidates.

The developer says he expects a team to be playing in the Rose Bowl or LA Coliseum for a year in 2011 and then move into the new stadium. The Vikes are committed to the Metrodome for 2011.

One potential flaw in the “Vikes might move” scenario: The developer might want a piece of the team.