Could the NFL really send the Chargers back to San Diego? It's something being discussed, according to longtime NFL reporter Don Banks.
The former Sports Illustrated reporter, who has worked for NFL Media and currently writes for The Athletic, told a San Diego radio station on Thursday the NFL never wanted to lose San Diego as a market and could force Chargers owner Dean Spanos to take the team back.
"I have been painted a picture from people I’ve talked to that the league was sympathetic … to Dean Spanos’ plight," Banks told The Mighty 1090. "Feels like he had been a ‘league guy’ feels like he had waited kind of his turn on the relocation front, thought he had the votes the year before — Jerry Jones and Stan Kroenke pretty much outmaneuvered Dean and Mark Davis with the Raiders to be the first in line for LA. So it was almost as if this was a bit of a make up.
"There are people in the league — including the commissioner — they did not want to see San Diego forsaken. They would rather there be a team in San Diego. If there’s anything viable that they could find to put the league back in to San Diego, I think they will be in that camp strongly."
The Chargers failed to sell out their temporary home, the 27,000-seat StubHub Center, in their home opener last Sunday. Banks wrote at The Athletic the NFL is shocked by how quickly things have gone south for the Chargers in L.A. As the Rams struggle to draw fans to the L.A. Coliseum, Banks said the NFL does not want the bad "optics" of empty stadiums for three years before the Rams and Chargers are scheduled to move into a new Inglewood stadium in 2020. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Halfcan:
Move the Chargers and their dipshit owner to North Dakota as a punishment for being so greedy and stupid. The Fargo Chargers would draw just as many fans as they do now.
Of course, these fair weather pussies would have to play in the cold, so they would rarely win.
Fargo Dome seats just over 19,000. That's about what the Chargers will get most games anyway [Reply]
Originally Posted by InChiefsHell:
All kidding aside...the Mexico City Chargers...NFL wants to break into that South of the Border market, and as I recall, the Mexico City games have been well attended. I wouldn't be surprised to see that...
Mexico City? Shit, more like Tijuana. Or Jaurez. A city more shitty to fit with their record. [Reply]
They need to go back. LA is Rams territory and they will likely struggle to regain the fan base they once had before moving to Missouri.
There's just no place for the Chargers in Los Angeles. [Reply]
