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 Frazod:
Shits given by NFL owners and Roger fucking Goodell = zero. They'd put a team in Antarctica if they thought they could make money doing it.
Imagine a west coast team playing a game in London. If there was an actual team there and they weren't just playing random games that the schedule could work around, it would be business as usual, with an 11 hour flight each way.
If we got to an 18 game season with two bye weeks and they surround those games around those bye weeks it would lessen the "issues" but there are still the first 4 weeks of the season and the last 4 weeks of the season when there are not any bye weeks for teams. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Dull Tools:
The new Spurs stadium there is already fully fitted for an NFL team.. Think a deal might alright be done with the NFL behind the scenes.
Is it 1993? San Antonio's stadium isn't new. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud:
As long as Jerry Jones is alive, it will not happen, period.
Jerry has made the other 31 owners far too wealthy through his TV contact negotiations for them to turn their back on him.
And why does Texas need a third shitty NFL team?
Two shitty teams isn’t enough?
Its not a question of need. San Antonio is, I believe, the biggest or at least one of the biggest markets that doesn't have it's own NFL team and Texas is pretty football mad.
I'm not saying it'll happen but I wouldn't rule it out.
The Chargers would sell a hell of a lot more tickets in SA than in LA. [Reply]
Out of curiosity, I looked it up in the census. Here are the ten largest American metro areas without an NFL team.
Riverside, CA
San Diego, CA
St. Louis, MO
Orlando, FL
San Antonio, TX
Portland, OR
Sacramento, CA
Austin, TX
Columbus, OH
San Jose, CA
Virginia Beach, VA
Providence, RI
Who are the best candidates to get an NFL team? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Chief Pagan:
I'm not saying it'll happen but I wouldn't rule it out.
Jerry Jones already conceded Houston to the Texans and has already claimed San Antonio as his territory, so it's not going to happen while he's alive, if ever.
The owners owe JJ more than they could ever repay him because he's the guy that negotiated their huge TV contracts which took the owners from being mere millionaires to becoming billionaires.
The NFL is the tightest 32 man "club" in the world and they do not forget their own, unless an owner damages or potentially damages their revenue stream.
Here are the 10 largest US television markets without a NFL team in the US.
Orlando
Sacramento
Portland
St. Louis
Raleigh-Durham
San Diego
Salt Lake City
San Antonio
Hartford
Columbus [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bowser:
Is San Diego vehemently anti-NFL, or did the Spanos' just kill their own personal golden goose there and make the city anti-Spanos?
The city voted to build a $1 billion dollar stadium on the same grounds as The Murph but the Spanos family refused because they wanted the stadium downtown.
There was a measure that went out a few years back about taxing hotels and rental cars but it was voted down because San Diego is a HUGE tourist destination and the city didn't want the taxes to interfere with their revenues.
The Spanos family, like Mark Davis, has no wealth outside of their NFL franchise so it would either take a partner, which the Spanos family refused or a city to build their stadium. AEG offered to build a stadium next to Staples Center and even had $20 million dollar per year naming rights set with Farmer's Insurance but Anschutz wanted a 51% share, to which the family said "No". He then offered a 49% share but the family said "No".
The Spanos family is their own worst enemy. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud:
The city voted to build a $1 billion dollar stadium on the same grounds as The Murph but the Spanos family refused because they wanted the stadium downtown.
There was a measure that went out a few years back about taxing hotels and rental cars but it was voted down because San Diego is a HUGE tourist destination and the city didn't want the taxes to interfere with their revenues.
The Spanos family, like Mark Davis, has no wealth outside of their NFL franchise so it would either take a partner, which the Spanos family refused or a city to build their stadium. AEG offered to build a stadium next to Staples Center and even had $20 million dollar per year naming rights set with Farmer's Insurance but Anschutz wanted a 51% share, to which the family said "No". He then offered a 49% share but the family said "No".
The Spanos family is their own worst enemy.
Oh FFS. Now that you say that, I remember hearing the part of wanting the stadium to be downtown, and I think the city did all they could to negotiate to no avail. Fk'n idiots.
I'm going to go ahead and assume the Spanos family gets their taxes done at H&R Block. [Reply]
Man, how do you fuck up calling San Diego your home. I've never even been there, just heard the stories of many friends and others that have, but I think I might concede a few bucks on the front end to stay in near paradise for decades on end. MAYBE THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH MY LOGIC WHO KNOWS [Reply]
Originally Posted by Rain Man:
Out of curiosity, I looked it up in the census. Here are the ten largest American metro areas without an NFL team.
Riverside, CA LA Teams
San Diego, CA
St. Louis, MO
Orlando, FL San Antonio, TX Dalllas Portland, OR Seattle
Sacramento, CA Austin, TX Dallas Columbus, OH Cleveland and Cinci San Jose, CA SF
Virginia Beach, VA Providence, RI NE
Who are the best candidates to get an NFL team?
Some can be eliminated due to proximity to existing teams. [Reply]
Originally Posted by GloucesterChief:
Some can be eliminated due to proximity to existing teams.
I think you could eliminate Orlando too, since it's halfway between Jacksonville and Tampa if you're going to eliminate Portland, San Antonio, or Columbus.
All Orlando would do is cannibalize the other Florida fan bases. [Reply]