After 20 years without a football team, LA has two. The Chargers have exercised their option to join the Rams at their new stadium, moving two hours north to their original home (of one year) after 55 years in San Diego. It's a move they were reluctant to make, but the city of San Diego really gave them no choice.
Whenever a team moves, the first reaction from people is usually, "I feel so bad for their fans." Well, in this case, I really don't. Because the fans had plenty of chances to keep the Chargers in San Diego, yet they made it clear they had no interest in doing what it took to keep the team. Dean Spanos spent how many years trying to get a new stadium? Every time the measure failed. He wasn't asking for the stadium to be completely publicly-financed. But even the small amount he needed (which would've come by raising a tax by a small percentage) was too much for the people to agree to.
It looked like the Chargers were going to be the team given the LA go-ahead last year when the NFL surprised them by allowing the Rams to move instead. That's when Spanos said he would give it another go in trying to get a new stadium in San Diego. Once again, he was unable to get it done. And as soon as the measure failed (once again) on Election Day, the move seemed all but inevitable.
If you look at it, the people of San Diego really gave Spanos no choice. He wanted to stay, but they didn't want to do what it took to keep the team. It's just like 60 years ago when a certain baseball team made its famous move to Los Angeles. No one thought they'd ever leave Brooklyn, but the Dodgers were put in a situation very similar to the one San Diego put the Chargers in. It was the same thing with the Islanders. They needed a replacement for the Nassau Coliseum. The "fans" refused to help them out, and they moved into the brand-new Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Making matters worse for the Chargers, San Diego voters did pay for a new stadium for the Padres. Yes, Petco Park has been open for more than a decade, but it has to sting that the taxpayers did come through for the Padres (who came into existence in 1969), yet wouldn't step up for San Diego's other pro team. As a result, the Chargers (who became San Diego's first pro team when they arrived in 1961) are now the third team to leave the city (and the second one to move a few hours north to LA), leaving the Padres all alone as San Diego's only pro team.
On the surface, moving two hours north from San Diego to Los Angeles doesn't seem like a lot. And in reality, it's really not that much. This isn't the Expos becoming the Nationals or even the Rams moving halfway across the country. This is more Islanders going to Brooklyn or 49ers going to Santa Clara. But it completely changes their identity. Instead of San Diego, which is known for its beaches and its laid-back attitude, they're a part of the glitz and glam of LA, where they'll be tenants in the football palace being built by the Rams.
The Chargers are in a very interesting spot, too. They have no ties to Los Angeles and are going to try and build a fan base out of nothing in a city that has seven other pro teams and two major colleges. I'm sure a lot of die-hard Chargers fans will make the drive to see the team play (just like fans come from Iowa and the Dakotas to go to Vikings games or fans from Syracuse and Canada drive to see the Bills). But there are probably a lot of San Diegans who feel jilted and will refuse to support any Los Angeles-based team, even if it's their once-beloved Chargers.
So, yes, this is much different than the Rams' move last year. The Chargers are stuck playing somewhere they don't want to be sharing a stadium with a team that doesn't want them there with a fan base whose only experience with them is rooting against them. Most of LA is still Raiders fans, and the Rams at least have their history there to build off. And it's gonna take some work for the Chargers to develop an LA fan base, especially since there's a lot going on in LA and people will lose interest if they don't win. Right away. (Although, the Chargers were the closest NFL team to LA for those 20 years, so that probably helped them gain some LA fans.)
Their temporary home will be the StubHub Center, home of the LA Galaxy. It will only have 30,000 seats for football, which is incredibly small by NFL standards. But I still think that was a better decision than being the third tenant at the LA Coliseum or playing in the cavernous Rose Bowl. The StubHub Center is in Carson, too, which is a half-hour closer to San Diego than downtown Los Angeles, making it easier for fans from San Diego to bear the freeway traffic.
Chargers fans (the ones that are left) will hopefully still come to games. The challenge now is to get more. They're basically starting from scratch in the second-largest city in America. But at least they'll still be in Southern California. It's truly a new beginning for the now Los Angeles Chargers (man, it felt weird typing that).
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