Next year, the NFL is going to bring at least one of three teams to Los Angeles and, consequently, apocalyptic gridlock to the one relatively traffic-free day of the week. The teams in question — the Oakland Raiders, the St. Louis Rams and my hapless 2-6 San Diego Chargers — are considering relocation because they are all unhappy with their current stadiums, and LA, as America’s second city (sorry Chicago), is by far the largest unclaimed market. In doing so, the Chargers have antagonized their fan base in a way that the other teams haven’t, which could put them in an uncomfortable position if they can’t leave San Diego.
Though Los Angeles could certainly support two NFL teams, three would likely be unsustainable. That means at least one team will be the odd one out when the NFL owners vote on relocation this January. That’s most likely the Chargers.
The Rams and Raiders have history in Los Angeles; both played in the city as recently as 1995 and have strong fan bases in the area as a result. The Chargers don’t have that history. Though they played one season in Los Angeles, they moved to San Diego in 1961 and have been there ever since.
Even though the head of the Chargers’ relocation efforts — special counsel to the team and most hated man in San Diego, Mark Fabiani — said in a statement that 25 percent of the Chargers’ season ticket base comes from LA and Orange County, the team’s presence in the Los Angeles market likely doesn’t come close to that of the Rams and Raiders. The Rams’ presence in particular is strong enough that Inglewood City Council unanimously approved a proposal, backed by Rams owner and developer Stan Kroenke, for a $1.86 billion stadium that would likely house the Rams, should they choose to move.
More importantly, Fabiani has hurt the Chargers’ position in San Diego as well. He has led the Chargers’ search for a new stadium for fourteen years, rejecting every stadium proposal the city government has presented, burning bridges with the mayor and other high-ranking officials in the process.
Relocation seems more and more to be the only option that would satisfy the team. Though both the Rams and Raiders have explored Los Angeles stadium options, only the Chargers, led by Fabiani, have explicitly stated that they will file relocation paperwork with the NFL as soon as they are able. This was essentially a middle finger to fans, as it came on Oct. 24, less than halfway through the season.
Fabiani and the Chargers have been alienating fans like this for years, as a recent town hall meeting attested. After booing Fabiani for nearly a full minute, many fans said that they wouldn’t travel north to see the Los Angeles Chargers. And they aren’t lying. San Diegans avoid going to LA like most avoid getting a colonoscopy — it’s necessary sometimes, but you try not to do it too often.
If the Chargers can’t relocate, losing their current share of the Los Angeles market will be the least of their worries. Because of Fabiani’s antagonism, they’ll also be trapped in a city that resents them, losing them a sizable portion of their current market as well, either to the new LA team or to surfing, hiking or another more appealing Sunday activity than watching football.
I’m looking at the second paragraph mentioning Mark Fabiani and noting that, “He has led the Chargers’ search for a new stadium for fourteen years, rejecting any stadium proposal the city government has presented…” I’m not aware of any proposal by the city government until the stadium task force, or whatever it was called, came out with it’s recommendation for rebuilding on the Mission Valley site. That only happened this past May. Can Mr. Feiner please clarify this?
Furthermore, Mark Fabiani is merely a spokesman for the Spanos family. He’s not making the call on accepting or rejecting any proposal.
Admittedly, this was a bit of hyperbole on my part. You are correct, the only official stadium proposals that the city has come up with have been through the stadium task force created this May. However, there have been less formal talks between the city government and the Chargers (led by Fabiani) predating the task force, such as the downtown stadium proposal and other options in Mission Valley, as well as other informal options in greater San Diego County, most notably those in Oceanside, Chula Vista, and Escondido.
Personally, I believe Fabiani’s unwillingness to work with city officials is partly to blame for these stadium options never amounting to anything tangible. I would have loved to have touched on this in the article, but, due to the shorter column format, I was trying to cut down my word count as much as possible.
I hope this answers your question. Thank you so much for your comment!
Furthermore, Fabiani is special counsel to Spanos, so I’m sure he carries some sway with the ownership even if, at the end of the day, it’s not his decision. And even if he were only a mouthpiece for the Spanos family, he’d still be the ugly, antagonistic face of Los Angeles relocation to the fans. In that role, he’s played quite an active part in alienating the Chargers’ fan base, which is my primary focus here.
Mr Feiner needs to understand IF the NFL is stupid enough to bring in two teams like we keep hearing about,it will be the Chargers joining the Rams in a couple of years.
Mr Feiner and all the mainstream media always leave out the fact USC is the only facility that has told the NFL they will let them use it for the next couple of years while Inglewood is getting built.
Everyone knows inglewood is the site they are going to choose.USC has said the Raiders are not welcomed,that just leaves the Chargers and Rams for next year.Pat Haden is the athletic director there,gee i wounder which of the two he will choose? lol
The Raiders will never come back to LA again because as always,the media types like Feiner forget to mention the corporations that have the money to put up sponsorships for promotions,they wont sposor the raiders.they dont want to touch them.
Kroneke is never going to let the Raiders join him.they would hurt his fanbase.the chargers on the other hand are no threat so that would be the one team he would take in.