I'm sure you've heard the story by now: Chargers owner Dean Spanos and the city of San Diego were unable to come into an agreement on a deal to construct a new stadium to replace the ancient Qualcomm, all because Spanos wanted public money that the city simply didn't have to fund his new stadium. When the other NFL owners were unwilling to give Spanos more free money than the $300 million the NFL already offered, he felt like he had no choice but to move to LA.
But why? Economically, Spanos could have easily ponied up the money for the stadium - the team has to pay $650 million in relocation fees - that money could have easily been used to build that stadium in San Diego. Instead, they will be second-class tenants in a stadium shared with the slimy Stan Kroenke and the Rams.
In addition to ripping out the hearts of loyal fans who have stuck with a mediocre franchise through 5 decades, there simply is no fan base in LA for the Chargers. They have no history there except one season in 1960. They will have to fight an uphill battle trying to win over fans who either
1) Aren't NFL fans (along with all the entertainment options in L.A., there's also 2 baseball teams, 2 basketball teams, a hockey team, a soccer team, and two marquee college football universities) OR
2) Are fans of other teams (namely, the Rams and Raiders, who had longer histories in the city).
Spanos is going to have to hope its the latter, as it looked bad this year even for the Rams, who had horrific attendance at the Coliseum after fans got over the initial spectacle and realized how bad that team was. The Chargers have had a better record over the past 10 years, with a couple playoff appearances, but not by much. In order to capture fans immediately, they need to start winning before the Rams can recover.
The NFL is a business run by lawyers and billionaire owners who want to make money, I understand that. But the depth to the lack of awareness about what fans will be able to take is astounding.No, Robert Kraft, there will be ZERO fans making the two hour drive to continue to root for a team that left their city to a join a rival city.
At some point, enough is enough. Yes, the NFL has the most popular sport, by far, in the country, It will remain that way for a while. But keep going down this road of pure greed - whether it be London games, Thursday Night Football, alleged expanded season/playoffs, continually plucking franchises out of cities chasing the money - and fans are going to turn off eventually.
By the way, that logo is hideous and a straight rip-off of the Dodgers and Tampa Bay Lightning.
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