The Raiders-Chargers game on Oct. 6 may be moved from O.co Coliseum to Qualcomm Stadium "in an effort to accommodate the MLB playoffs," according to Michael Gehlken of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. The A's currently are 1 1/2 games up in the AL West and "comfortably control one of two wild-card spots." Both Oakland clubs share O.co Coliseum as a home venue. Early indications are the locations in the Chargers and Raiders' divisional series this year "will indeed be flip flopped," but the decision on that is not expected to come until roughly a couple weeks before the two teams are scheduled to play, "allowing for team travel and other necessary arrangements to be organized." If the first Chargers-Raiders game is moved to Qualcomm, the second game in Week 16 will move to O.Co Coliseum (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 9/7).
STADIUM STRUGGLES: San Diego interim Mayor Todd Gloria on Friday said that he is "moving forward" with the city's current $520M convention center expansion plan, as opposed to the Chargers' current stadium plan of building a joint-use stadium-convention center for the East Village. But in San Diego, Sharon Chen noted "moving forward with expansion of the convention center does not mean a new stadium for the Chargers is out of the question." Gloria: "The Chargers, we all know, are an enormous community resource" (FOX5SANDIEGO.com, 9/7). Meanwhile, in San Diego, Lori Weisberg wrote the Chargers' "latest move" of proposing the joint-use venue "opens the door to a major showdown next month when an alliance of city and business leaders, the San Diego Unified Port District and Convention Center Corp. make their case for a project they say will deliver a huge economic bonanza and attract the kinds of major shows and conferences that cannot fit within the current center." Gloria was "not dismissing the Chargers’ proposal for a joint-use facility with retractable roof." But he said that "too many unknowns remain, including financing, its design and how much of a contribution city taxpayers would be called upon to make." Weisberg wrote, "Still uncertain ... is just how the Chargers project would be financed" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 9/7).
