The San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders have reportedly agreed to help construct a $1.7 billion stadium in Carson City, Calif. for the two franchises to play in should they not get a stadium deal in their current locations. Oakland’s financial issues has forced the team to combine with its division rival (San Diego) to help create this stadium deal.

The Carson City stadium where the Raiders and Chargers could end up playing. (Courtesy of the Los Angeles Times)

Both the Chargers and the Raiders are trying to get new stadium deals done in their respective markets, but they have met with resistance. So the two franchises have proposed a new $1.7 billion palace in Carson City, Calif. that would have the two AFC West rivals sharing the building. The Carson City venue would be entirely privately funded (meaning the Chargers will pretty much pay for the entire building); in case both franchises are unable to get public bonding to help build new buildings in their current markets.

It seems like it is unlikely that the Chargers would be willing to privately finance a $1.7 billion palace in Carson City, when they are complaining about pouring $15 million into stadium advisory committees over the last 14 years in San Diego. The Chargers look like they are just trying to get ahead of the Rams in the race to Los Angeles, and are dragging the Raiders into the discussion with them.

The Carson City proposed stadium would be on the site of the vacant Carson Mark, which is adjacent to an old municipal landfill. Both the market and the landfill are expected to be used for this project, which means that the proposed stadium site is 168-acres. It’s a big enough site to support an entertainment district that would make this an extremely profitable venture for the two franchises…and give Carson City a decent cash windfall, especially if the project is privately financed.

The Chargers and Raiders have been working with a group of local a business and labor leaders called “Carson2gether” to help generate public support for the stadium. All of the involved parties are expected to confirm the stadium proposal at a news conference on Friday.

[twitter-follow screen_name=’sportswithneil’] [twitter-follow screen_name=’nvr93′]