Adding the bits and pieces of information from the whole situation between the San Diego Chargers, the NFL and the city of San Diego, we can come to only one conclusion: The franchise is going to leave to Los Angeles.
It comes down to money that the NFL wants the city of San Diego to put down in order to make the new stadium thing happen. But the real estate plans and deals aren’t happening, and without that, it’s hard to believe that the team, with an owner that wants to move to somewhere else (a couple of hours North at best), is going to stay in San Diego, where they’ve been playing since 1961.
So what’s going on? The Chargers have been in playing in Qualcomm stadium since 1967, one of the oldest venues in the NFL, without the historic references and allure that the older stadiums have. Their owner wants to move, and it seems that nothing the mayor (Kevin L. Faulconer) and the task force will do, the Chargers are moving to Los Angeles, where the franchise actually began as an AFL team in 1960.
According to theĀ task force spokesman, Tony Manolatos, nothing is over. It’s all about winning over the NFL, so the rest of the owners force the Chargers to stay in San Diego. The NFL, on the other hand, has told the task force that in order to please the NFL, it has to win over the Chargers. The NFL, if you haven’t noticed, wants a team back in Los Angeles also.
Eric Grubman, the NFL’sĀ lead executive on business ventures, is acting on behalf of the league when dealing with the city. In short, he has told them thatĀ if the Chargers donāt support what the mayor comes up with, this was an exercise in futility. He laid down two conditions:Ā Vote for the stadium now (and not in November 2016), and that the stadium financing can’t dependĀ on development around the facility, because it would take too long. In short, it seems like the league and the team are trying to blow this whole deal up by putting up impossible to comply with terms.
It’s not that developing around Qualcomm stadium, selling the land and what not is impossible. It’s simply difficult to do, and is going to take time. The Chargers and the NFL want a decision, and the money, now. With all that in mind, the day that we hear the league announce that the Chargers are leaving to Los Angeles is getting closer.
2 responses to “NFL Rumors – San Diego Chargers Leaving to Los Angeles”
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