First, the question is to believe Los Angeles Chargers’ owner Dean Spanos or to not. However, if you do believe him; the Chargers will be staying in Los Angeles. Of course, this is clashing from Tuesday morning reports that the Chargers would be considering a move to London.
Therefore, Eric Williams who covers the Chargers for ESPN has more. This includes a quote from Spanos himself on the subject.
Chargers owner Dean Spanos on his team potentially moving to London: “It’s total f—kin bullshit. We’re not going to London. We’re not going anywhere. We’re playing in Los Angeles. This is our home, and this is where we are planning to be for a long f—king time. Period.”
— Eric Williams (@eric_d_williams) November 5, 2019
Without question, Spanos sounds passionate about the team not playing full-time on foreign soil.
“It’s total f—ing bulls—,” Spanos said. “We’re not going to London. We’re not going anywhere. We’re playing in Los Angeles. This is our home, and this is where we are planning to be for a long f—ing time. Period.”
All of this was in response to an article that was done by The Athletic which reported the Chargers to be in cahoots with the NFL in looking into a London move. Allegedly, the Chargers are doing so because there is concern with the team in the Los Angeles market. In addition to Spanos’ statement, the NFL has come out to say there is no truth behind the report. Still, this report surfaced from somewhere, right?
And why would there be concern about the Los Angeles Market? Check out Arash Markazi’s tweets on the subject for some backstory:
The Chargers didn’t move to L.A. for fans. Franchise relocations rarely have anything to do with fans and attendance. They moved here to play in a new $5 billion stadium. Any conversation about relocation has to start with them moving into a similar stadium or it makes no sense.
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) November 5, 2019
The biggest issue for them in L.A. is there are no hardcore L.A. Chargers fans and they haven’t moved the needle as far as media coverage. The truth is London doesn’t solve either problem. They would experience opposing fan takeovers there and team coverage would be minimal.
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) November 5, 2019
Indeed, there is little traction thus far for the Chargers in Los Angeles. While playing their home games at the StubHub center (which was built for soccer), the franchise just seems misplaced. Even if Spanos has no plans to move the team to London, it’s fair to assume that he is less than happy with how things are going in Los Angeles currently.
Right now the Chargers sit at 4-5 on the season, good enough for third place in the AFC West. Recently, they fired offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt unexpectedly.
Finally, their face of the franchise Philip Rivers will turn 38 on December 8th of this season. It’s hard to believe, but Rivers is on the back-nine of a career that seems like it started yesterday. With Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger appearing to be in their waning moments of their own careers, Rivers could be the last man standing from the 2004 draft class of quarterbacks. Still, one wonders for how long; and will he go out a gunslinger in a town that appreciates him appropriately?
