Back in February, when the Chargers and Raiders first announced plans to build a $1.7 billion stadium in Carson, Calif., fans were a little confused about the project because no one was sure whether the two teams were building a stadium or a giant intergalactic spaceship.
Can someone explain to me that spaceship the Raiders and Chargers talking about using as a stadium in Los Angeles?
— Chad Wilson (@GridironStuds) February 20, 2015
Looks like the spaceship in "Flight of the Navigator" MT @VicTafur #Raiders, Chargers ponder shared stadium near LA pic.twitter.com/UICKXZ71rj
— RaiderUte (@RaiderUte) February 20, 2015
The drawing of the futuristic spaceship in la for the raiders and chargers was done simply to motivate Oakland and Sd to build stadiums.
— NY Sports Guy (@JAsports70) February 20, 2015
It you hate the spaceship design, then I have good news: As of Thursday, it's out.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the Chargers and Raiders have agreed to completely "overhaul" the design of the stadium, which makes sense because the original spaceship design was done using only input from the Chargers.
The newest design was done using input from both the Chargers and Raiders.
David Manica, the president of the company in charge of designing the stadium, told the Times that the idea was for the new stadium to have a "sleek" design.
"We wanted the building to be iconic and sleek, like a luxury sports car," Manica said. "Very aerodynamic, in motion, flowing lines from every angle."
Not only is the stadium going to flow from every angle, it's also going to shoot lightning bolts because now-a-days, it really doesn't make sense to build a stadium unless it's going to shoot lightning bolts.
According to the Times, there will be a 120-foot tower on one of the main concourses and fake lightning bolts will shoot out of the top of the tower each time the Chargers score.
It's also possible that real lightning bolts will shoot out of the tower because who knows what kind of technology we'll have invented by the time this stadium is finally built.
Besides sometimes destroying the world with its giant lightning bolts, the tower will also serve another purpose. When the Raiders play, it will be a cauldron that burns in honor of former Raiders owner Al Davis.
Now, just because the design is done doesn't mean a stadium is going to be built anytime soon, although the Chargers and Raiders did clear one hurdle on Wednesday.
The city council of Carson voted unanimously to approve a proposal for a privately financed $1.7 billion stadium. The main thing the vote did was allow the stadium to skip the environmental review process, which can take considerable time in California.
The stadium plan could start moving forward in May though. Once the new stadium design is finalized, the Raiders and Charges will likely present the final design to the other 30 owners at the league meetings in San Francisco in May.
