Chargers News: San Diego Chargers File For Relocation
Monday marked the first day three franchises were eligible to file for relocation. Those teams includes the San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders, and St. Louis Rams, all of whom would turn in their relocation applications yesterday.
Chargers owner Dean Spanos also appeared in a video and was asked questions (by someone who works for the Chargers) about the relocation and how it came about. The bottom line is he wants to protect the 25% of the franchises revenue that resides in the greater L.A area, by making the move so that another team like the Rams or Raiders won’t take it. He stated in the video, “it was the single most difficult decision that I have ever made, or my family has ever made,…uh, in business.”
The NFL will only support one stadium that would house two of the three teams trying to abandon ship for L.A. and it will come down to the 32 owners that will meet on January 12th and 13th in Houston to vote on the issue. For any of the franchises to relocate, there must be at least 3/4 vote, or 24 out of the 32 clubs, of the NFL owners on board. The Chargers and Raiders have set their rivalry aside and proposed a $1.75 billion stadium in Carson right off the 405 freeway.
The city of San Diego sent a proposal to the NFL just before the December 30th deadline. The $1.1 billion NFL stadium plan would be built where Qualcomm stadium currently resides, but the NFL has deemed the plan “non actionable” as of right now.
The Raiders, on the other hand, didn’t even send in a formal proposal and have all but placed their chips in the middle of the table for the Carson project.
This whole process really got going when Rams owner Sam Kroenke proposed a $1.86 billion stadium to be built in Inglewood that would also contain housing developments, retail and entertainment center. Spanos blames this move as what started the whole relocation process for the Chargers, but they were swift on teaming up with the Raiders and sending in a proposal themselves.
Now both projects, and the future of these 3 clubs, rest in the hands of the 32 NFL owners. They will have to carefully consider any ramifications in any action they make, whether a team is relocating or all three stay put.
Nick was born and raised in San Diego where he became a Chargers and Padres fan, attending numerous home games throughout the years with his dad. He then went on to attend college at the University of Arizona. There he earned his degree in marketing and now lives in San Francisco where he dreams of the the sunny beaches of San Diego. Bear Down.