We are overwhelmed with Chargers this, Chargers that.
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The Rams, who called St. Louis home for 20 years, are moving back to Los Angeles where they were the home team from 1946-1994.
The Chargers can continue to negotiate with San Diego for a new stadium deal, while keeping the option of joining the Rams and owner Stan Kroenke at the $1.8 billion complex he is building.
Ellis would not speculate on whether Chargers owner Dean Spanos would execute the option or try to work out a new stadium with the city of San Diego.
While my fellow Raider fans up north were likely encouraged by the NFL’s decision, as an Angeleno I am incredibly disappointed. “I think this would take years to get resolved in court”.
“My goal from the start of this process was to create the options necessary to safeguard the future of the Chargers franchise while respecting the will of my fellow National Football League owners. We weren’t able to get it done for our fans in St. Louis and San Diego and Oakland”. Under the league resolution, the Chargers and Raiders would receive an extra $100 million from the NFL to build stadiums in their home markets, on top of the $200 million the league already offers for such projects. “It’s a great football environment and they’ll support an NFL team – or two NFL teams if that’s how it ends up – extremely well”. As more fans play fantasy football and watch on HD televisions with NFL Sunday Ticket or Red Zone Channel, they’d rather stay home and monitor all the games than go to the stadium and see only the game on the field in front of them. The Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982-94 and now split a facility with Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics, the last remaining combination stadium. Or he could look at renovating, rather than rebuilding, the existing facility, which would be a good and cheaper option. The Rams are expected to return to the Los Angeles Coliseum as a temporary home until the new stadium is complete. All signs, though, point toward Spanos negotiating a shared stadium arrangement with Kroenke which would move the Chargers to Los Angeles starting with next season.
A stadium needs to be open for at least two years before it can host a Super Bowl, according to the NFL.
Spanos has had the right to leave San Diego since 2008, but the team’s efforts became more aggressive after Kroenke announced plans for the Inglewood move.
As the Rams entered the 1990s and talks of a departure turned into reality, Olvera said the Rams were still his team – even if they were now more than 1,800 miles away. The new stadium construction isn’t getting public funding and instead is to be privately financed at a cost that could exceed $2 billion.
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What we don’t know is the amount of resources Kroenke wants from a partner.
