The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Club exercises option and exits, leaving some San Diego fans bitter,
Club exercises right to join Rams after 56 years in San Diego.
SAN DIEGO — As angry fans gathered outside to say goodbye to the franchise they’ve loved for decades, Chargers chairman Dean Spanos announced to his employees the team is moving to Los Angeles, where it will join the recently relocated Rams to give the nation’s second-largest media market two NFL teams for the first time since 1994.
Spanos told his employees Thursday morning the team will relocate for the 2017 season. The team posted a letter Thursday on its Twitter account, which was rebranded as the Los Angeles Chargers.
“San Diego has been our home for 56 years. It will always be part of our identity, and my family and I have nothing but gratitude and appreciation for the support and passion our fans have shared with us over the years. But today, we turn the page and begin an exciting new era as the Los Angeles Chargers,” Spanos said in the letter.
The move had been in the works for years, as a long, bitter saga failed to result in a new stadium to replace aging Qualcomm Stadium.
Still, the final blow was hard for some fans to take. While they supported the team itself, many are angry at Spanos for his scorchedearth tactics the past two years. As Spanos was driven to the airport to fly to Los Angeles to meet with civic officials, fan Chuck Homenick got close to the SUV and yelled an obscenity.
“Pretty horrible. Born and raised here in San Diego and been going to these games, and just can’t believe they’re leaving,” Homenick said. “I knew the decision was coming up soon and I was hoping they were going to stay. Business decision, but when it comes to fan support and loyalty, they’re not going to have much support, fans.”
Joseph MacRae held a sign that read, “Alex Spanos would never leave SD! You failed us Dean.”
Chargers owner Alex Spanos turned over control to son Dean years ago.
The Chargers’ decision to move comes less than three months after San Diego voters resoundingly rejected team-sponsored Measure C asking for $1.15 billion in increased hotel occupancy taxes to help fund a $1.8 billion downtown stadium.
“For more than a decade, the San Diego Chargers have worked diligently toward finding a local stadium solution, which all sides agreed was required,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement, pointing out that the Chargers delayed exercising the option to move that was granted a year ago. “The Chargers worked tirelessly this past year with local officials and community leaders on a ballot initiative that fell short on election day.”
The Chargers will become a tenant in the stadium being built in Inglewood for the Rams. The club will make its temporary home at the 27,000-seat StubHub Center in Carson.
Team set to hire Lynn: Thursday began with the Chargers choosing a new city. It ended with them closing in on a head coach.
The newest Los Angeles franchise is in contract negotiations with Bills interim coach and offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn, a source told the San Diego Union-Tribune Thursday night.
This is the latest layer to an atmospheric rise for the 48-year-old, who began 2016 as Buffalo’s running backs coach, became its offensive coordinator in September and then interim coach in late December.