AP source: NFL committee picks combined site over Rams' bid

HOUSTON (AP) — An NFL committee exploring moving teams to Los Angeles has recommended the combined stadium proposal involving Oakland and San Diego over St. Louis owner Stan Kroenke's ambitious plan for another venue, a person with knowledge of the vote said today.

League owners meeting in Houston will use that nonbinding recommendation as they consider whether to end a two-decade hiatus in the nation's second-largest media market. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the NFL hasn't announced the committee's vote, first reported by Sports Business Daily.

The Raiders and Chargers have agreed to share a stadium in Carson, Calif., while Kroenke wants to build a $1.8 billion showplace in Inglewood, closer to downtown LA.

No NFL franchise has moved since the Houston Oilers went to Tennessee in 1997. The Raiders and Rams both left Los Angeles after the 1994 season. The Rams had been in the LA area since 1946.

In a report to all 32 teams days before the meetings, Commissioner Roger Goodell deemed the venues in all three existing cities inadequate and said the stadium proposals lacked certainty. In the case of San Diego, that includes a public vote required for the financing.

The Chargers and the city have been at odds since 2000, when owner Alex Spanos said his team needed to replace Qualcomm Stadium. That was just three years after the venue was expanded to accommodate the Chargers and Super Bowls.