San Diego Chargers Must Move to Los Angeles

The NFL is returning to Los Angeles, but will the Chargers be joining the party? There is only one viable option. The San Diego Chargers must move to Los Angeles. Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in today’s NFL Sports Debate. Two brothers from New York yell, scream, and debate sports.

DAN:

The San Diego Chargers have an easy decision to make, so let’s get the facts on the table. The Rams are returning to Los Angeles. The Chargers have one year to join them. If they decline, the Raiders have the same one year option. A new stadium will be built adjacent to Los Angeles International Airport. This stadium is a two and half hour drive from downtown San Diego. The NFL is willing to help pay for new stadiums in Oakland and San Diego, if they stay put.

As someone who’s called Los Angeles home for over ten years, there is no decision for the Chargers. In past seasons, with no NFL team in LA, the local TV networks broadcast Chargers and Raiders games, defaulting to San Diego unless a national game trumped it. Going forward the actual Los Angeles teams will get the coverage. If the Chargers stay in San Diego, not only will they be sacrificing a partial television market to stay in a city with a sub-par stadium and no acceptable improvement, they will be hemorrhaging their fan base until they relocate somewhere else down the road.

Scenario A: The Chargers move to Los Angeles and share a stadium with the Rams.

In this scenario the Chargers get a new stadium. They also maintain their old fan base, while splitting an entirely new one. It will sting for San Diego at first, especially the name change, but it will be just as easy to support their team. TV coverage is not likely to change, and the new and improved stadium is a short drive North.

Scenario B: The Chargers stay in San Diego.

In this scenario the Chargers return to a crappy stadium, with no agreed upon proposal in the works. They lose TV market share to the LA Rams, and likely to the incoming Raiders.

I think the Raiders should remain in Oakland, but if San Diego declines to move, I’d be shocked if the Raiders didn’t swoop in and return to Los Angeles. Now two teams, both formally residing in LA, will be stealing fans from the Chargers.

The Chargers wanted to move to Carson, about 30 minutes closer to San Diego than the Inglewood stadium. The only thing that’s changed is the team they’ll share space with. Who cares? What am I missing here?

Nov 23, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen (13) runs past tumbling St. Louis Rams defenders on his way to a 29-yard touchdown pass from Phillip Rivers at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports /

TODD:

I am still struggling with figuring out why one proposal was shot down and the other accepted. I know we have no idea of the inner-workings of NFL ownership and each owner’s loyalties and how they would vote, etc. But why was the Chargers’ plan denied?

The NFL came out and said, as officially as it could, that all of Oakland, San Diego and St. Louis were not viable NFL locations moving forward. I believe that was an official announcement made by the league prior to the vote. So if San Diego was not viable, why did the other owners deny the Chargers’ plan to share a stadium with the Raiders in Carson? It seems that moving forward with the proposed plan of two teams is more logical than giving one what it wanted and forcing the other two to adapt and adjust.

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Of course, this is all without knowing the actual proposals. I suppose the Chargers’ literal plan for money/support/infrastructure/etc. may have not been acceptable. But that gives NFL owners too much credit. This had to be shadier and more under-handed than just picking the best laid plan.

If I’m the Chargers, despite the setback of having their plan denied, I move to Inglewood with the Rams. They have to. The fans in San Diego already feel betrayed and abandoned, and they’ve felt that way for more than just this past week. SD residents haven’t been showing up for Chargers games all season. Games in San Diego had been split crowds or favored the visitors more often than not in 2015. The Chargers are losing a fan base that they had already given away.

The die-hard fans, as you pointed out, will follow them to Inglewood. Eight times a year, a season-ticket holder can drive 2.5 hours to a game. The more interesting part is how Los Angeles residents will receive the team. LA football fans who have grown up in LA are more than likely former Rams fans. After all, the Rams played there within the time frame of this current generation of football fans. So I’m not sure that the batch of people in Los Angeles who watched Chargers games on TV did so for any other reason than it was the game being shown.

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If the Chargers do move, they also have to figure out a place to actually play games in the next three seasons while the new stadium is being built. The logistical parts are going to be a nightmare. I suppose none of that should affect the larger focus of a decision. This is a move that will change the scope of the league for decades to come…or until LA grows tired of football again and everyone moves back.

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