OT: Chargers to LA

[RUaMoose]

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/san-diego-chargers-announcing-theyre-moving-to-la-reports-say/

From '78-'84, San Diego had the Padres, Clippers and Chargers. Now only the Padres remain. A shame for such a fine city.

 

[RU4Real]

There's no way the L.A. market supports two pro football teams when, historically, they've been unable to support one.

This will end badly.

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

I am not sure why it took so long to get the deal done since the plan years ago was to announce it the same time as the Rams.

Better late than never i guess.

 

[RUaMoose]

There's no way the L.A. market supports two pro football teams when, historically, they've been unable to support one.

This will end badly.

They couldn't support two when the quality of the game was much better, there was no HD TV and ticket prices were much more affordable so I agree 100 percent

 

[jmc11201]

They couldn't support two when the quality of the game was much better, there was no HD TV and ticket prices were much more affordable so I agree 100 percent

I agree. Didn't seem like there was a ton of enthusiasm for the Rams...where will LA Charger fans come from?

 

[superfan01]

There's no way the L.A. market supports two pro football teams when, historically, they've been unable to support one.

This will end badly.

It's a great move for the owners. To them it's just about having a part of the stadium and TV. The number of people in the stands is far down the list of their cares

 

[Bamm Bamm Rubble]

LA can support the Raiders but there's no way in hell they can support the Chargers. The Chargers should be the one moving to Las Vegas.

 

[MGSA99]

I envision new stadiums having a lower bowl of 30,000 people and then towering rows upon rows upon rows of luxury suites on top of that. The profit center comes from the suites, not the fans.

 

[PatrickRU92]

there actually was a lot of enthusiasm for the Rams but they were just SOOO bad to watch this year it was literally painful . Their offense seriously resembled ours. They simply couldnt score which took a lot of air out of the balloon

San Diego made it's own bed. They took the hard line on funding a new stadium which I understand but then you need to understand why the owner would pack up and leave. Spanos has been warning SD for over a decade now that something needed to be done , Qualcomm is no longer NFL worthy and hasn't been for a while. With the state of the art stadium going up 120 miles north of SD, Spanos pretty much had his hand forced here.

It is sad for SD but they should still do all right in LA. They will lose some fans by moving , but I would suspect a fair amount of San Diegans will make the drive to Inglewooed on Sundays. Certainly not 50,000 of them though. and at least the Rams have some LA history--SD played 1 year in LA when the AFL first started and that was it. I also have my doubts that 2 teams can thrive here.

 

[RUInsanity]

The Raiders should come back so a city that never fully supported pro football can then have 3 teams.

 

[PatrickRU92]

The other interesting thing is the Chargers may play the next 2 years at the Home Depot Center, where the Galaxy plays which has a max capacity of 30k (with a temporary expansion) which will be the smallest NFL venue in I can't remember how long.

 

[MozRU]

I am surprised that NFL teams are building these mega stadiums anymore.

Its all about the luxury boxes corporations buy, seats close to the action corporations buy and TV money.

Put 25,000 seats and boxes in.

 

[MozRU]

I am surprised that NFL teams are building these mega stadiums anymore.

Its all about the luxury boxes corporations buy, seats close to the action corporations buy and TV money.

Put 25,000 seats and boxes in.

****Lastly, with player antics (which has made the NBA unwatchable), greed by all, TV commercials that make watching painful, football has peaked, IMO. Soccer is coming on.

 

[RUBand]

There's no way the L.A. market supports two pro football teams when, historically, they've been unable to support one.

This will end badly.

I agree, will be interesting to see what kind of fan base they actually sustain

 

[PSU_Nut]

****Lastly, with player antics (which has made the NBA unwatchable), greed by all, TV commercials that make watching painful, football has peaked, IMO. Soccer is coming on.

We been hearing the same line about soccer for decades. The World Cup in 1994 was suppose to make soccer explode and here we are 20+ year later and it just an after thought. Even the premier league averaged only 514,000 per match on tv and they were the highest rated on US television. To compare the NBA averaged 3.9 million on ABC and 1.7 million on TNT and ESPN.

 

[MozRU]

We been hearing the same line about soccer for decades. The World Cup in 1994 was suppose to make soccer explode and here we are 20+ year later and it just an after thought. Even the premier league averaged only 514,000 per match on tv and they were the highest rated on US television. To compare the NBA averaged 3.9 million on ABC and 1.7 million on TNT and ESPN.

Were the only country not to embrace soccer for a reason. Demographics are changing my friend.

 

[Saint Puppy]

I agree, will be interesting to see what kind of fan base they actually sustain

Follow the dollar - I'm sure the people who made this deal are well aware of this. The optics of a half empty stadium may not be pleasing but I guarantee some rich people just got a whole lot richer.

 

[RUhasarrived]

The title should read BACK to LA.I remember watching the LA Chargers beat the Titans on ABC in the last game of the season in 1960.The only reason I became a Titans' fan at age 10 was that my father's best friend had a nephew who played on the team,Bob Mischak.

 

[Beancounter88]

Growing up, I lived in LA while the Rams were there and just before the Raiders moved there. There was absolutely no interest in pro football. They used to give out free tickets at sporting goods stores, Little League teams and even fast food places. This will end badly with one of those teams moving to San Antonio, Portland or LV (if Raiders don't go there first). Will always have memories of some epic SD Chargers games like the Kellen Winslow game vs Miami and the AFC title game vs Pitt.

 

[Harambe_be_my_qb]

Good on the people of San Diego for not caving to the interests of charlatans.

 

[Caliknight]

The Rams have a lot of enthusiasm here. Smart move for the Chargers. LA is an A list city in every way. SD is a sleepy beach city with not much going on. Outside of the sentimental factor, this move was a no brainer for Spanos.

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

New Logo:

 

[cicero grimes]

The team LA should bring back is the LA Express.

 

[RU_Planning]

Glad to see San Diego didn't succumb to the mooching requests of Spano and the NFL.

 

[WhichReligionIsRight]

The idea of cities being forced to provide massive subsidies to NFL teams is beyond outrageous. There ought to be laws against these kinds of subsidies, but that's the way the system is set up. Sad day for San Diego.

 

[Ataylor1989x]

Its funny to think that if you're a die hard Chargers fan from SD, you can still watch the games on tv and root for the Team without spending any other money on tickets or merchandise.....while the team plays before apathetic crowds in LA.

Of all the NFL fans I know, most don't feel a need to go to the games anyway. Seems like The only thing SD will be missing out on is having players live in the community.

 

[Harambe_be_my_qb]

New Logo:

This is an embarrassingly bad logo.

 

[MorrisAsh]

New Logo:

Shockingly unoriginal. Just put a jolt in the Dodgers color scheme and logo.

 

[MADHAT1]

Next: The St Louis Chargers , unless they run backs to SD or Oakland makes a run at them.
I agree with those that wonder if LA ill even support one NFL franchise there.
After awhile the LA Raiders might be singing


One of eight charter members of the American Football League, the team was founded here in 1960 and played its first season as the Los Angeles Chargers.

Few fans, however, actually saw them play in Los Angeles. Some high school teams outdrew the Chargers in 1960.

http://articles.latimes.com/1985-09-17/sports/sp-20215_1_charger-player

 

[RUJohnny99]

We been hearing the same line about soccer for decades. The World Cup in 1994 was suppose to make soccer explode and here we are 20+ year later and it just an after thought. Even the premier league averaged only 514,000 per match on tv and they were the highest rated on US television. To compare the NBA averaged 3.9 million on ABC and 1.7 million on TNT and ESPN.

1994? I'll have to take a picture of my Disney yearbook from 1978. It talked about how soccer is the fastest growing sport in America & by 1999 it would surpass baseball as the #1 televised sport.

 

[Kbee3]

I feel bad for the San Diego fans. Too bad there aren't more teams with ownership like the Green Bay Packers.

 

[RUfinal4]

San Diego to LA is 120 or so miles
San Diego to Anaheim is 96 miles

If they build a stadium in Anaheim it is close enough for Charger fans to drive to the games, especially if they live like 30 miles north of San Diego like in Carlsbad. Instead of a 30 mile trip to San Diego they will have a 60 mile trip to Anaheim. (For those in Freehold or Brick you have a similar commute to the meadowlands)

 

[tico brown]

I envision new stadiums having a lower bowl of 30,000 people and then towering rows upon rows upon rows of luxury suites on top of that. The profit center comes from the suites, not the fans.

Good call... sort of, on the 30k stadium since they're playing in the LA Galaxy 30K stadium.

http://www.foxsports.com/soccer/sto...-la-galaxy-stadium-major-league-soccer-011217

 

[RUfromSoCal?]

Horrible ownership meets horrendous city management....

 

[justinslot]

there actually was a lot of enthusiasm for the Rams but they were just SOOO bad to watch this year it was literally painful . Their offense seriously resembled ours. They simply couldnt score which took a lot of air out of the balloon

San Diego made it's own bed. They took the hard line on funding a new stadium which I understand but then you need to understand why the owner would pack up and leave. Spanos has been warning SD for over a decade now that something needed to be done , Qualcomm is no longer NFL worthy and hasn't been for a while. With the state of the art stadium going up 120 miles north of SD, Spanos pretty much had his hand forced here.

It is sad for SD but they should still do all right in LA. They will lose some fans by moving , but I would suspect a fair amount of San Diegans will make the drive to Inglewooed on Sundays. Certainly not 50,000 of them though. and at least the Rams have some LA history--SD played 1 year in LA when the AFL first started and that was it. I also have my doubts that 2 teams can thrive here.

Do you think Spanos could have gotten a stadium built without public money if he really wanted to, or is he really on the poorer side of NFL owners?

 

[PatrickRU92]

San Diego to LA is 120 or so miles
San Diego to Anaheim is 96 miles

If they build a stadium in Anaheim it is close enough for Charger fans to drive to the games, especially if they live like 30 miles north of San Diego like in Carlsbad. Instead of a 30 mile trip to San Diego they will have a 60 mile trip to Anaheim. (For those in Freehold or Brick you have a similar commute to the meadowlands)

the whole point of moving is a stadium is already being built in Inglewood. Have driven from Carlsbad to LAX (which is Inglewood adjacent) many times--it's about 1.5 hrs on a Sunday morning. However for Thursday and monday night games---don't even think about it

 

[justinslot]

I feel bad for the San Diego fans. Too bad there aren't more teams with ownership like the Green Bay Packers.

It's too bad the NFL doesn't allow that kind of ownership structure anymore. There would be more public support for stadium financing if the stadium was basically community owned and not an obvious giveaway to a rich person.

 

[tico brown]

Do you think Spanos could have gotten a stadium built without public money if he really wanted to, or is he really on the poorer side of NFL owners?

Was it possible for Spanos to be able to pay for a stadium in SD with the $500M expansion fees he has to pay for LA?

 

[Armor and Sword]

Didn't the referendum in SD in November that the voters rejected was for a hotel tax to pay for a stadium in SD? The kind of tax locals aren't supposed to pay?

I'm also reading that the Alamodome is outdated and most of your 80s/90s domes across the USA have been demolished and replaced, so forget about a move to SA unless someone builds a new stadium.

Flying back from LA in October, I was sitting behind these guys in their 20s or early 30s talking about the Rams and Chargers, one guy says he hasn't come around to rooting for the Rams and no way he'd support the Chargers.

 

[Harambe_be_my_qb]

Didn't the referendum in SD in November that the voters rejected was for a hotel tax to pay for a stadium in SD? The kind of tax locals aren't supposed to pay?

I'm also reading that the Alamodome is outdated and most of your 80s/90s domes across the USA have been demolished and replaced, so forget about a move to SA unless someone builds a new stadium.

Flying back from LA in October, I was sitting behind these guys in their 20s or early 30s talking about the Rams and Chargers, one guy says he hasn't come around to rooting for the Rams and no way he'd support the Chargers.

The Chargers claimed the tax would bring in 1.1 billion, an independent essay team came back with a .75 billion number. The city would be on the hook for any shortfall in the tax revenue. The public didn't appreciate being on the hook for 350 million.