Not that it comes as a great surprise, but it looks like the Chargers ownership may announce the move as soon as Thursday.
It would be a hoot if they became more popular than the Rams.
Sorry, Raiders, no soup for joo…
It could quite easily happen, especially if the Rams keep sucking as hard as they did this year. It’s been bandied around here before, but a quarter of Chargers season ticket holders live in L.A. and Orange Counties.
I don’t follow football, will a city as large as San Diego go without an NFL team for long?
If they get another one, will they buy one or can San Diego create a new team?
The NFL wants to keep its presence in San Diego, but if the Chargers do move, the NFL won’t be back in San Diego until San Diegans vote to pay for a stadium. Given that the Chargers just lost such a vote by a decent margin and the fact that the Chargers owners haven’t exactly handled the stadium situation with a Ron Burgundy level of class, good luck with that happening anytime in the near future.
It’s a pleasant surprise to see that they weren’t bamboozled into buying the NFL a new stadium. They already have a stadium that’s perfectly adequate.
As a native San Diegan, I’m surprised LA wants them.
To say nothing of the fact that a lot of us still feel pretty burned by the way the city and MLB behaved the last time they talked us into buying them a stadium.
Oh, I"d say not for more than twenty years or so, given that’s how long L.A. (a much bigger market) went without a franchise from the NFL.
'Twas a happy part of election day to see that Chargers initiative go down the tubes so nicely. I’ve been a Chargers fan since AFL days (Sheesh, my first game was at Balboa Stadium!) but I’m feeling no big loss approaching. I posted in a different thread not too long ago how the Spanos family have taken an essentially adversarial stance towards the local population. Shit, I’m not even going to hold the door to prevent any ass-hitting on the way out.
I remember, I think it was maybe four or so weeks ago, a Chargers spokesperson giving an interview on a Sunday morning pre-game interview regarding how much more money they could make in L.A. That was the indelible writing on the wall for me. "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin indeed! You’ve been weighed and found severely wanting.
I’m curious how I’ll feel next September, but hell, life goes on.
Indeed. Now, if we can just get the Raiders to join the 49ers at their new stadium in Santa Clara.
I thought the latest news from the NFL was that they were moving to approve the move of the Raiders to Las Vegas.
Without being a fan of the team by any stretch, I feel bad about this move.
I wasn’t born when the Colts moved, I wasn’t old enough to know what was going on when the Browns moved, and I didn’t care about St. Louis moving because the Rams were L.A. first and St. Louis never seemed to care THAT much.
But the Chargers have ALWAYS been in San Diego and have a lot of history there. It’s sad that such a storied tradition has to die.
It’s very sad. Even though recent events have soured my enthusiasm I would still jump for joy if some eleventh hour miracle let them remain in San Diego. I’ve been around for all of the good times and the bad as well: It’s been wonderful hanging in through the tough times for they make the good times that much sweeter. Fifty plus years is a good long stretch to have a team to call ones own, but let any bitterness posted of late be an indicator of how much the team’s ownership has fouled the waters.
Like I said, we’ll see how I feel come September…
Los Angeles went an incredibly long time.
The location of NFL teams is only vaguely related to the size of the city, as evidenced by the fact Green Bay has a team but a hundred larger cities don’t. Austin, TX is ten times bigger than Green Bay and is probably not lacking in football fans.
What largely matters is whether or not you can get the taxpayers to build you a stadium. A taxpayer-financed stadium is basically hundred of millions of dollars of free money; between that and TV money, you could run an NFL team and turn a profit without selling any tickets.
Actually, the Chargers first season was in LA but they moved the next year. The Rams started out in Cleveland.
The Rams suck, but all things considered, they still underperformed in the ratings in their first year in LA. And that’s a team that might have had some kind of base to start with considering they used to be in LA. There is a legitimate question as to whether LA can support another NFL team at all.
I’m hearing the Chargers may have to play their first season in the LA Galaxy (MLS) stadium that seats 27,000. Apparently it can expand to 30,000. But they might not be able to fill that!
I wish they’d stay in San Diego. NFL teams have tried to live in LA before and it just doesn’t work.
I care much less about what the Raiders do. The Coliseum and surrounding Oakland area is like a post-apocalyptic toilet bowl. And the Warriors’ Oracle Arena is right next door. Moving to Vegas actually makes sense, other than the NFL looks like a bunch of hypocrites for freaking out when Tony Romo wants to have a convention in Vegas, but it’s Ok to locate an actual team there.
The Packers are an exception, though, effectively being community-owned. Other major-league sports franchises have owners who have a great deal of freedom to move their teams to where they think the money is greenest, but Green Bay doesn’t have to worry about an owner threatening to pick up stakes.
Pretty sure only the stadium wants them. LA itself is simply not a football town but owners keep trying to make it one for some reason.
The Rams drew even fewer eyes than they did in Saint Louie.
WHAT is with that logo? Really?
I’m pretty sure this is the real factor at work. The voters of San Diego refused to give the NFL a new stadium. So the NFL is punishing them by moving the team.
I think the NFL owners started to realize that the threat of moving to L.A. to extort the locals out of a shiny new stadium was wearing thin because nobody was actually moving there.
That problem’s fixed, but now they’ve got another: now the locals being threatened with the loss of their team can say, “Go ahead and move to St. Lous/San Diego/wherever. They won’t build you a new stadium either.” And once the Rams or Chargers move on from L.A. to somewhere new, it’ll be “Go ahead and move to L.A., it’s worked out so well for everyone else who did it.”
The days of billionaire owners successfully getting locals to cough up hundreds of millions of dollars for new sports palaces may finally be coming to an end.
Too bad, so sad. 
Hazmat teams needed on Level 4!
They should change the team name, too.
Simi Valley Semi Pros
Pasadena Rosebuds
San Gabriel Missionaries
West Hollywood Interlopers
Anaheim Mighty Duck Lips