Chargers Chair Dean Spanos following yesterday's game against the Raiders said it would "probably be an accurate statement" to say he is closer to moving the team to L.A. than staying in San Diego, according to a front-page piece by Kevin Acee of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. CBS sideline reporter Scott Kaplan before the game said that Spanos told him that he is "leaning toward moving to Los Angeles but would have stayed in San Diego had Measure C received 50 percent of the vote." Asked about Kaplan's report after the game, Spanos said, "I said I was not going to make up my mind until after the season. He asked the question, ‘Are you closer to leaving than staying?’ I said, ‘That would probably be an accurate statement.’ ... Everything is in place. I'm waiting on the city of San Diego." As for Ballot Measure C, Spanos said that he "'mostly likely, probably' would have felt differently" if it had reached the 50% threshold. Sources said that Spanos "doesn’t believe" San Diego can find a stadium resolution (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 12/19). Several NFL owners who were in contact with Chargers ownership at last week's owners' meeting said that Spanos is "resigned to the fact he must move his team" to L.A. during next month's window to do so and "has every intention of doing just that." CBSSPORTS.com's Jason La Canfora reported there are "no viable options seen to staying in San Diego." A source said Spanos "doesn't have a choice from an economic standpoint, and he knows it. He's as good as gone. He basically told us that he has no choice." Another source added, "It's over. They're going to Los Angeles. It's just a matter of announcing it. There aren't any miracles here" (CBSSPORTS.com, 12/18). USA TODAY as part of its weekly 40 things it learned from Sunday's games writes Spanos and Raiders Owner Mark Davis "were said to have had an animated conversation on the field" before yesterday's game (USA TODAY, 12/19).
NO ROOM FOR TWO TEAMS? In San Diego, Nick Canepa wrote if Spanos moves the Chargers to L.A. he will be "making an enormous mistake." Fans in L.A. are already "tuning out the Rams, who have a history there, and Coliseum attendance totals are fabrications." Canepa: "What chance does Dean have? ... I'm saying L.A. isn't going to work" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 12/18). THE MMQB's Peter King writes Spanos "likely has a talk or two left with San Diego city fathers, but this thing’s gone on too long, with too little substantive progress toward a real solution." Most NFL owners "seem resigned to losing the San Diego market." King: "I still will never figure out why Spanos wouldn’t make the best deal he could in a city that worships the Chargers ... around the Qualcomm site." Even if the stadium "were a C-plus place, it’d be in the home of your rabid fans, in a passable venue" (MMQB.SI.com, 12/19).
A HOUSE IS NOT A HOME: In San Diego, Michael Gehlken wrote Qualcomm Stadium "hasn’t felt" like much of a home field advantage for the Chargers this season, and it "hasn’t for some time." Gehlken: "Take your pick among the reasons why, be it the franchise’s recent win-loss record or failed January relocation attempt, the stadium’s outdated facilities, the financial cost to attend or the general year-to-year uncertainty of where the organization will be." A "large turnout of visiting fans is nothing new at a Chargers game." For Raiders fans to "dominate the stadium of the home team in the rivalry, that part of it is embarrassing" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 12/18).
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: The SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE editorial board addressed an open letter to Spanos, writing the city will be "something less than it is now" if the Chargers were to leave. The editorial: "It will not be easy if you stay. But commit to San Diego, and fans will return. The community will rally around you. That must mean something." The editorial: "How can you know San Diegans will support the right plan at the right cost?" The paper will ask readers why they "think the Chargers should stay and what the team means to them and to the region, and publish replies on Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017." The editorial: "We think you’ll be overwhelmed by the response" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 12/16).
