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 Shag:
LA struggling to support two NFL teams? Shocker. Who could have ever seen that coming?
Would love to see this happen, but not holding my breath.
The Rams organization knew that it would be difficult to rebuild the fan base while playing in the Coliseum and it's a shame that Kroenke World was delayed by a year.
Once it's completed, Goff should be in his prime and the team should be pretty good.
No one wanted the Chargers in town. Not the mayor, not the citizens, no one. [Reply]
NFL shouldn't have put in the restriction in selling luxury suites at Kroenkeworld that they couldn't pre-sale those until they have two NFL teams in the stadium.
New ownership and rebrand would be the best option in their current situation. [Reply]
They belong in SD but for them to make that move, they'd need to change owners and then have the new owner say he was moving them back to SD "where they belonged" [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud:
The Rams organization knew that it would be difficult to rebuild the fan base while playing in the Coliseum and it's a shame that Kroenke World was delayed by a year.
Once it's completed, Goff should be in his prime and the team should be pretty good.
No one wanted the Chargers in town. Not the mayor, not the citizens, no one.
I'm still shocked the NFL signed off on the Chargers move. Anyone could see it's destined to fail. I have a hard time believing they won't move again within 5 years. [Reply]
They should return to San Diago, but I fear that major damage has been done.
I think the NFL should take an ownership stake in the team, either tear down or update the Q, but long term I think they need to look at selling that team. Man what a shit ownership group. [Reply]
Originally Posted by ThaVirus:
That whole situation is a mess and, quite frankly, it's embarrassing.
Absolutely, trying to go from 0 teams in LA to 2 teams was a stupid idea. You start with a single team and see what happens before increasing your market load. [Reply]