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 Deberg_1990:
I know the voters didn’t want a new stadium.
But it feels like a missed opportunity. A new modern, billion dollar stadium in San Diego, with that weather....would seem highly attractive for all kinds of events.
The Cali guys would know better than me but IIRC Spanos was a cunt on a lot of levels and it’s hard for taxpayers to sign onto that shit when they’re not going to get anything back, the owner is a cunt and was going to keep the money anyway. [Reply]
Los Angeles could get away with charging for seats just to have the right to buy season tickets. It cost $7,500 per seat (one time fee) with season tickets at $150 per game. Club Seats range from $15,000 to $80,000 per seat and accompanying season tickets are $375 per game. There was no way that Charger Fans in San Diego were going to shell out that kind of money. Crazy. [Reply]
Originally Posted by GloucesterChief:
Portland is out, only about 2 and a half hours from Seattle.
San Antonio same reason. Too close to Houston & Dallas.
Oakland.
St Louis.
San Diego.
Orlando.
Hampton Roads, VA.
There's no way Oakland or San Diego get an NFL team again because their cities and voters do not want to shell out $2 billion for a stadium.
I'd be very surprised to see an NFL team in St. Louis again and really the only way to even get interest is to build a palace for an NFL team in advance, something that seems very unlikely.
I don't know much about the city of Orlando but with Jacksonville's continuing and never-ending struggles, I doubt Orlando would be a viable option for any team. [Reply]
