USC professor David Carter is the media's go-to guy on the business of sports. More than an academic, he also has a private equity firm operating in the sports, well, arena. Asked why Los Angeles hasn't had a National Football League team since 1995, he starts by saying "with California it always boils down to real estate values and the tax environment..." He elaborates for LA Observed contributor David Davis in this week's Los Angeles Business Journal. Excerpts at SoCal Sports Observed.

Don't miss these other posts around LA Observed this morning:

Voting by touch screen was weird enough, then Dodgers hero Kirk Gibson came on the radio warning of "radical extremists" and mourning doves...

Dave Navarro follows Paris Hilton's footsteps to Sawtelle and Pico...

Of coyotes on the trail and gang houses in Echo Park...

Why dogs live in Malibu...

David Davis likes a new book rating Hollywood's best sports movies, even if Slap Shot and The Hustler make the top ten.