No matter what the sport, fans will always be attracted to the spectacle as they’ll be willing to fork over their hard earned money to purchase merchandise and tickets in order to support their favorite team. But just because a fan is loyal to a certain team doesn’t mean that the organization will necessarily return the favor. We’ve seen sports franchises raise ticket prices, while also dishing out personal seat licensing fees to season ticket holders which has been known to alienate a fan base. But the biggest damage is done when a sports franchise decides to relocate to another city.
The City of San Diego is in the process of experiencing this as after 56 years, their beloved Chargers are leaving in favor of Los Angeles which they called home in 1960. The Chargers saga with San Diego has been a sad one as team owner Dean Spanos has tried to work with the city for nearly 15 years in order to procure a new stadium for his franchise, but he and city officials have never been able to get on the same page. The final straw was broken this past November on Election Day when voters in San Diego only gave 42% of the 66 needed in order to pass a law that would increase hotel tax in order to pay for a new stadium for the Chargers along with a convention center in the downtown area. And as the Rams were looking for a co-tenant in Los Angeles after they bolted St. Louis, Missouri last January, Spanos jumped at the opportunity.
It’s going to take some getting used to for all of us to call them the Los Angeles Chargers, but that’s the way that the cookie always crumbles. Regardless of the sport, team owners are always seeking new stadiums/arenas with new state-of-the-art features that will attract fans. The owners are always seeking a good portion of taxpayer money to supplement these projects, and if one city isn’t willing to play ball, they will always find another city that is willing to talk turkey.
It is this song and dance that saw the Dodgers leave Brooklyn, New York in favor of Los Angeles in 1957, the Colts leave Baltimore, Maryland in favor of Indianapolis, Indiana in March 1984, and the Browns to leave Cleveland, Ohio for Baltimore where they became the Ravens in 1996. These are not the only sports franchises to move from one city to another, but they just happen to be some of the most iconic organizations, and if they can do it, anyone will.
The Chargers called Jack Murphy/Qualcomm Stadium their home in San Diego for the majority of their time there, and by all definitions it is indeed a dinosaur when it comes to facilities by National Football League standards. Since 2000, 13 teams have gotten new stadiums with the Rams, Chargers, and Atlanta Falcons all waiting in the wings to get new facilities. Stadiums are not always out of date, but the race is always on to get luxury boxes, PSLs, and to stay in the good graces of the National Football League when it comes to potentially hosting a Super Bowl. Qualcomm last hosted the Super Bowl in 2003 and the NFL was far from being pleased with the facilities then which was the beginning of Spanos’ battle with the City of San Diego as getting a new stadium.
Dean Spanos
But whereas Spanos didn’t get what he wanted from San Diego, Los Angeles was willing to play ball as after not having a National Football League franchise for 21 years, the City of Angels now has two. And as Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will get a ton of credit for brokering the deal to have the NFL return to L.A., it is coincidental that all of this went down after the passing of former Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders owner Al Davis who after failing to procure a new stadium in Hollywood Park, decided to return his franchise to Oakland in 1995.
So now the Chargers are set to join the Rams in Los Angeles where the excitement cannot be that high as the Rams return to Southern California saw them go 4-12 this past season while also giving the San Francisco 49ers their only two victories of the campaign. The Chargers just went 5-11 as they went out of their way to lose games this past season which won’t bring excitement to L.A.
The Chargers will now have to build a fan base in Los Angeles and leave behind the legacies of Lance Alworth, John Hadl, Fred Dean, Gary “Big Hands” Johnson, Dan Fouts, Kellen Winslow, Charlie Joiner, Sid Gilman, Don Coryell, Junior Seau, Rodney Harrison and LaDanian Tomlinson as they will always be embedded in the fabric of San Diego. Quarterback Philip Rivers and tight end Antonio Gates who are lifers with the Chargers are now set to make the trek up Interstate-5 to Los Angeles and in the process they’ll leave behind a somber fan base.
Attendance for Chargers home games declined in recent years in part to their poor record and the rumors about a potential move to Los Angeles. And just like St. Louis last year, I don’t see San Diego getting another National Football League franchise anytime soon as there is disdain on both sides of the ledger.
But the decisions of a few men have once again hurt so many as the Chargers iconic “powder blue” uniforms won’t be the same in Los Angeles as they truly represented San Diego, and I doubt that many people will be willing to make the three-hour trip north each Sunday to see them play. The Chargers were as iconic in San Diego as the Zoo and Sea World, but all good things come to an end.
It never helped the situation when Major League Baseball’s Padres got a new stadium in The Gaslamp District in 2004 as Spanos had to sit by and watch that go down. Now Spanos was simply sick and tired of being sick and tired. But in this case there won’t be any winners in spite of the fact that Spanos will be getting the new stadium that he coveted. It was easy for the Chargers to get lost in the shuffle of the small-market San Diego, but their ineptitude on the gridiron will now be under the microscope in Los Angeles. The Chargers will also have to share Los Angeles with the Rams as it will take each franchise close to two decades to properly build a rapport with the folks in Los Angeles at the rate that each of them wins football games. But that is the world in which we live in where’s the only loyalty that we as people display is to the almighty dollar, which has been known to sometimes sour personal relationships in the process. Spanos might be loved in Los Angeles, but once he leaves San Diego, he’ll be at the point of no return.
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