SD Fans Are Irate Over The Chargers Moving To LA
The San Diego Chargers are no more. Thanks to owner Dean Spanos, the fans can root for the Chargers as an LA team, or spew anger like the rest of the San Diego fan base.
With San Diego not having that many professional teams to call their own, the fan base for the Chargers was loyal and dedicated. Even through countless losing seasons, you can depend on their fans being there to support The Bolts.
In early 2016, there were discussions in the league about having either the St. Louis Rams, the Oakland Raiders or the San Diego Chargers possibly moving to Los Angeles. The Rams and Raiders had, at one time, been a franchise in Los Angeles, so many assumed one of those teams would be the one to return.
The masses thought it would be the Raiders because their fanbase is largely in Southern California, not just Oakland. But, in a surprising turn of events, the Rams ended up being the team to jump ship and head to Los Angeles. The hope for the Raiders to join them was still lingering because the option to share a stadium was a strong possibility.
Well, that hope went out the window once talk commenced about sending the Raiders to Las Vegas instead, which could happen as soon as the 2020 NFL season. Now it appeared as if the Rams were going to be the only team moving to Los Angeles. How the tables have turned.
In January 2017, before even telling San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, or informing the city, for that matter, Spanos confirmed that the Chargers would be moving to Los Angeles. All because the city of San Diego and the Chargers could not agree on a new stadium.
The comical thing is, it would have been cheaper for the Chargers to stay in San Diego opposed to moving to Los Angeles. The total cost of the new stadium being built for them in Los Angeles is going to amount to $1.8 billion. If The Bolts had stayed in San Diego, they would have been given approximately $375 million for a new stadium. That is a significant difference.
What it boiled down to was whether the NFL thought it was a good investment for the Chargers to stay in San Diego, or allow two teams to perform a balancing act, trying to build their fan base in LA.
Does the latter option really make that much sense?
Once fans heard the news, they did not hold back what they felt and went off on Twitter.
@J_Marie_B tweeted, “Loyal fan all my life – Time to pick a new team… Dean Spanos you have disappointed us all #SDChargers.”
Another user got a bit more personal and said, “Dean Spanos is an idiot. @Chargers we will miss the players but thank God this [expletive] is leaving.”
Spanos is walking around with a target on his back for making this happen. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out in the years to come.
