Los Angeles Chargers

[BD Sullivan]

It's not often that Robert Kraft has been considered clueless, yet this comment about the move appears to qualify:

"You have people that have been fans of this team for 55 years, and they now will be able to go into a stadium worthy of the support that they've given. The team is still within the geography that will allow the fan base to attend games. I personally wish [the stadium] had been in downtown San Diego, but the powers that be didn't want to cooperate. Dean's family was willing to commit nine figures of capital and just couldn't get the cooperation. In one sense it's sad, but in the other it's nice that it's still close by and true fans will be able to support the Chargers."

[ChrisBabcock]

"You have people that have been fans of this team for 55 years, and they now will be able to go into a stadium worthy of the support that they've given. The team is still within the geography that will allow the fan base to attend games. I personally wish [the stadium] had been in downtown San Diego, but the powers that be didn't want to cooperate. Dean's family was willing to commit nine figures of capital and just couldn't get the cooperation. In one sense it's sad, but in the other it's nice that it's still close by and true fans will be able to support the Chargers."

waitwhat? Someone please buy Mr. Kraft an atlas.
http://www.distance-cities.com/distance ... angeles-ca
Copied from above website... There are 111.60 miles from San Diego to Los Angeles and 120.47 miles by car.

...and I've heard some things about southern California's traffic.

[JuggernautJ]

It doesn't matter.... they're just trying to justify (if only to themselves) their greed.

Remember when things mattered other than just generating maximum profit?
"Sorry, 2 billion isn't enough profit when we could squeeze out 2.01."



(and if you're offended please pardon my cynicism... it seems to be reaching critical mass...)

[MIKEBENNIDICT]

For decades Monday Night Football was the best show in the NFL.
But someone decided it would generate more revenue if the Sunday Night Game became the highlight of the week.

And so MNF was designated second best, getting poorer games and far less advertising hoopla than the Sunday Nigth Game.
Now "Football Night in America" (gag, wretch) is supposedly the hot ticket and MNF is seeing its ratings fall (perhaps in an orchestrated move to lead to its demise?) along with the rest of the NFL games.

The point is (IMO), the NFL decided what was best for the league (and to hell with their customers' opinions) and forced a change down the public's throat.
And the same thing is happening now with the Chargers and Raiders.

Tradition, reality and logic be damned, the NFL will have two franchises in LA and Oakland is too small a market too hold a big-league team.
It has been decided.

Next up: is Green Bay too small a market for an NFL team?
Marketing has decided to re-name the team the Wisconsin Packers and they will play their games in Milwaukee with an occasional game in Green Bay, to be phased out as the population ages.

Another aspect that's changed when it comes to giving the middle finger to the fans is that the scheduling of a late-season night game in a cold climate city is actually now encouraged as opposed to being essentially forbidden before.

I don't see what you're complaining about.

[Gary Najman]

Something that I don't understand is why they'll play at a 30,000 seat soccer stadium in Carson for two seasons instead of playing at the Rose Bowl, or wait two years at Qualcomm and move when the LA new stadium is ready. Anyone knows why the hurry to move?

[JohnH19]

For decades Monday Night Football was the best show in the NFL.
But someone decided it would generate more revenue if the Sunday Night Game became the highlight of the week.

And so MNF was designated second best, getting poorer games and far less advertising hoopla than the Sunday Nigth Game.
Now "Football Night in America" (gag, wretch) is supposedly the hot ticket and MNF is seeing its ratings fall (perhaps in an orchestrated move to lead to its demise?) along with the rest of the NFL games.

The point is (IMO), the NFL decided what was best for the league (and to hell with their customers' opinions) and forced a change down the public's throat.
And the same thing is happening now with the Chargers and Raiders.

Tradition, reality and logic be damned, the NFL will have two franchises in LA and Oakland is too small a market too hold a big-league team.
It has been decided.

Next up: is Green Bay too small a market for an NFL team?
Marketing has decided to re-name the team the Wisconsin Packers and they will play their games in Milwaukee with an occasional game in Green Bay, to be phased out as the population ages.

Another aspect that's changed when it comes to giving the middle finger to the fans is that the scheduling of a late-season night game in a cold climate city is actually now encouraged as opposed to being essentially forbidden before.

I don't see what you're complaining about.

Uh, it gets colder when the sun goes down and it doesn't feel good when you're sitting outside in Northern cities.

[JWL]

For decades Monday Night Football was the best show in the NFL.
But someone decided it would generate more revenue if the Sunday Night Game became the highlight of the week.

And so MNF was designated second best, getting poorer games and far less advertising hoopla than the Sunday Nigth Game.
Now "Football Night in America" (gag, wretch) is supposedly the hot ticket and MNF is seeing its ratings fall (perhaps in an orchestrated move to lead to its demise?) along with the rest of the NFL games.

The point is (IMO), the NFL decided what was best for the league (and to hell with their customers' opinions) and forced a change down the public's throat.
And the same thing is happening now with the Chargers and Raiders.

Tradition, reality and logic be damned, the NFL will have two franchises in LA and Oakland is too small a market too hold a big-league team.
It has been decided.

Next up: is Green Bay too small a market for an NFL team?
Marketing has decided to re-name the team the Wisconsin Packers and they will play their games in Milwaukee with an occasional game in Green Bay, to be phased out as the population ages.

Another aspect that's changed when it comes to giving the middle finger to the fans is that the scheduling of a late-season night game in a cold climate city is actually now encouraged as opposed to being essentially forbidden before.

I don't see what you're complaining about.

Years ago, the league would have not made the Texans play at New England in night time. It would have been at 1:00 or maybe they would have put it at 4:30 and made the inside game (Seattle at Atlanta) the one in prime time.

[ChrisBabcock]

Something that I don't understand is why they'll play at a 30,000 seat soccer stadium in Carson for two seasons instead of playing at the Rose Bowl, or wait two years at Qualcomm and move when the LA new stadium is ready.

This is an interesting development. I could have sworn the NFL had a 50,000 capacity minimum for all stadiums.

[Ronfitch]

I'm becoming little more than a casual fan. It wasn't long ago that I watched every game I could but this year I didn't care all that much if the Vikings weren't playing.

I have watched more old footage on DVD and youtube this season than live games. But I doubt that I am an oulier here in that regard.

[rhickok1109]

It should be noted that the league itself no longer any say in whether or not a franchise moves. That's the result of the lawsuits the LA Coliseum Raiders filed against the NFL in 1978, after the NFL blocked the Raiders' move to Los Angeles. The rule requiring a three-quarter vote of owners to allow a move was found to be in violation of antitrust laws, and the league has no desire to lose another such case. The last four franchise moves have taken place without league approval.