Chargers staying put, says owner
Rumour of move to England squashed, as team awaits completion of stadium
The owner of the National Football League’s Los Angeles Chargers, late of San Diego, vehemently denied a report Monday that claimed he and league officials were considering the possibility of moving his team to London, England.
“We’re not going to London. We’re not going anywhere,” the owner, Dean Spanos, told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday. “We’re playing in L.A. This is our home, and this where we’re planning to be for a long (expletive) time. Period. OK?”
“If you want me to say it again, I’ll say it again,” he continued. “(Expletive) (expletive), that story.”
The Chargers moved to Los Angeles in 2017, after spending 56 years in San Diego. The team has been playing in a 27,000seat facility in Los Angeles County designed for Major League Soccer’s L.A. Galaxy, as it waits to move into a stadium still being built that it will begin sharing with the other NFL Los Angeles team, the Rams, in 2020.
The Rams, who played in Los Angeles from 1946 to 1994, moved back there from St. Louis in 2016 and were able to draw upon a re-energized fan base. By contrast, the Chargers were long viewed with antipathy in Los Angeles by virtue both of their association with San Diego and as a divisional rival of the Oakland Raiders, who played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994, and Spanos’s club has had difficulty developing an avid following in its new home.
In the report, published Monday by The Athletic, NFL sources were cited as saying that league officials have had discussions about possibly moving the Chargers to England. The website described the Chargers as “fully committed to Los Angeles” but claimed the team “would at least listen” if the league “approached” it about relocating to the United Kingdom.
In addition, The Athletic reported that it learned other NFL owners are “concerned enough” about the difficulties Spanos has had making headway in the “crowded” Los Angeles market that the league “would provide the necessary support” for a transatlantic move, if the Chargers were on board.
On Tuesday, the NFL said there was “no substance whatsoever” to The Athletic’s report.
“No consideration has been given to the Chargers playing anywhere other than Los Angeles at the new stadium in Hollywood Park next season and beyond,” the league said in a statement. “There have been no discussions of any kind between the NFL and the Chargers regarding moving to London. Both our office and the Chargers are entirely focused on the success of the team in Los Angeles.”
The Chargers’ struggles in developing a Los Angeles fan base have been evident in many of the team’s home games at Dignity Health Sports Park in the suburb of Carson. Opposing teams regularly bask in cheers from thousands of their own fans, who take advantage of both the attractive locale for a road trip and the apparently ready availability of tickets.
Meanwhile, the Chargers have reportedly been having trouble holding up their end of the bargain with the Rams in terms of helping finance the new stadium through the sale of personal seat licenses. The Rams’ owner, Stan Kroenke, is a real estate developer who is organizing the construction of the stadium, and Chargers will effectively be his tenants.
ESPN reported last year that the Chargers dropped their initial goal in revenue from such sales to $150 million, from $400 million, and it also reported at that time that NFL officials were already discussing the “viability” of the Chargers in Los Angeles. Forbes reported last month that the Chargers were “currently $300 million short” of the $400-million projection.
The NFL has operated in the U.K. It has held games every year since 2007. Tottenham Stadium was designed to accommodate NFL games and was mentioned as a likely venue for the Chargers.