LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles City Council members have voted to form a working group to hold discussions with the developers behind a proposed downtown pro football stadium and to order an independent report on the plan's financial details.
Wednesday's action was the full council's first vote on entertainment company AEG's efforts to build a 64,000-seat venue to draw an NFL team to the city.
The vote came a day after AEG announced a naming-rights deal with Farmers Insurance Exchange, reportedly worth up to $1 billion.
Council members voiced support for the plan, but say it requires extra scrutiny because the venue will be nestled in the publicly owned convention center campus and will require the city to take on $350 million in debt that AEG has vowed to service.