If you want a summary of what the Chargers have been for the past few years, this is it. This tweet is a microcosm of the various failures that have happened under owner Dean Spanos's watch. I mean, this is the ONLY NFL team this season to lose to the lowly Cleveland Browns. In a tough AFC West division, they limped to a 5-11 season. Therefore, there really isn't a whole lot for the city of San Diego to fret about in spite of having 56 years of San Diego football halted.soo hungry need to find my wife and head to pf changs— Los Angeles Chargers (@Chargers) February 20, 2007
For starters, the Chargers are relocating to a 27,000-capacity soccer stadium in Carson, California. Granted, this is a temporary home and Qualcomm Stadium was getting outdated. However, the StubHub Center is barely bigger than the United Center in Chicago and the Rose Bowl would've been a better option. By the way, give fellow LA-newbie Stan Kroenke credit. At least he put his team in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which seats 93,000 and is legendary (don't forget Kroenke's paying for his own new stadium in Inglewood). Dean Spanos doesn't seem to get the whole relocation matter.
Another reason why San Diego emerged as a winner in this ordeal is the fact that the voters rejected a measure that would've geared taxpayer money towards a new NFL stadium in November. For years, the Chargers organization has tried to convince the city to publicly pay for a new NFL stadium. Some of their ways included trying to get the city to raise their hotel bed tax. This was opposed by hotel outliers within the city because it would hurt their business. If you're wondering why this is significant, consider this. Nevada just approved $750 million worth of public funding for an NFL stadium that casino mogul Sheldon Adelson wants to build. The Ilitch family's "Little Caesar Arena" in Detroit is near completion and is built on taxpayer money. The trend of publicly funded stadiums is a disturbing one, especially when billionaires are crying "welfare" when they have the money to build the stadium themselves.
Besides, Los Angeles is getting another shitty NFL team when it already has one. The Rams moving to Los Angeles was a great idea since it would bring back interest to a sport that a market hadn't seen for a couple decades. While the Rams are a dumpster fire to watch on the field, it had the feel of an expansion team arriving to town. Now? It's just overkill. Granted, people will likely fill the tiny stadium known as StubHub Center. However, Dean Spanos and the Chargers better turn things around quickly before the new stadium in Inglewood's built. Otherwise, it'll be similar to what the San Francisco 49ers are experiencing right now: No fans coming to a new stadium to see a piss-poor product.
What I expect to happen down the road is a couple things. One, expect organizations to try and get their stadiums built in the suburban areas (like the Atlanta Braves did), most likely using taxpayer money. There will be some less populated areas who will be willing to give this a nudge instead of the big cities themselves. Two, expect organizations like the Chargers to straight up leave when the cities and its citizens stand up to this "corporate welfare". Cities like St. Louis are starting to hit back at the billionaires and teams are starting to flee. The cities are tired of having to take many years to pay off a stadium.
As for why the city of San Diego wins in the end of this debacle? This reason is the cherry on top. Imagine if the Tampa Bay Lightning relocated to Los Angeles and one of the interns had to think up a logo on the fly. You'd get something like this:
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