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Chargers To L.A.: Reactions Pour In On Move That Is Seen As Gamble By Team, NFL

The Chargers' move to L.A. "feels like one big roll of the dice," according to Sam Farmer of the L.A. TIMES. There is "extreme anger in San Diego," while there is "apathy" in L.A. It is a "bad look for the NFL in the middle of the playoffs, and it’s a risky proposition in a season when TV numbers have taken a significant dip." For the league, the "timing of this was painfully awkward," but the end "seemed as awkward and rushed as the team's hastily designed LA logo" (L.A. TIMES, 1/13). In L.A., Bill Plaschke writes the Rams allowed the Chargers to "have the headlines for all of about a dozen hours before brashly stealing some thunder by hiring" Sean McVay to be their new coach on Thursday. Plaschke: "Get used to it, Chargers. For the foreseeable future, this is going to be one seriously unbalanced relationship." Some might consider the Chargers' move to L.A. the "first Rams win since November." Not only will the Chargers help build the $2.6B Inglewood stadium, contributing as much as $500M in loans and PSLs, but they "shouldn’t threaten the Rams much until they get there." The "only way" the Chargers in L.A. will work is if they "win, and entertain, and hope the Rams lose their luster" (L.A. TIMES, 1/13).

RIDE THE LIGHTNING: YAHOO SPORTS' Dan Wetzel wrote it is "not a surprise" the Chargers "got their own demise all wrong ... courtesy of poor late-game strategy." The Chargers' decision was "rushed and ridiculous." The Chargers are "leaving a city they don’t really want to leave and one that doesn’t want them to go." They are "moving to move, to a city they don’t really want to be in and one that doesn’t want them to come." Wetzel: "Or, at best, doesn’t care." The Chargers’ "only hope" in L.A. is that they can "become winners ... and earn swing fans." It is "about all they have because nothing else is working in their favor" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/12). In California, Jim Alexander writes, "Congratulations, Los Angeles. I think." L.A. is about to see the "dysfunction of an NFL franchise that, outside of San Diego County, southwest Riverside County and parts of southern Orange County, has been essentially irrelevant" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 1/13). ESPN’s Bomani Jones: “How do you carve out a fan base in a city that has been perfectly aware of your football team for a very long time?” (“Highly Questionable,” ESPN, 1/12).

PREDICTING THE MARKET: CBSSPORTS.com's Jason La Canfora wrote the question for the Chargers now "becomes whether the NFL's decision to double down" on L.A., the "most fickle of football markets, will pay off." La Canfora: "Color me somewhat skeptical at the onset. ... I'm no marketing genius, but if I'm the Chargers I am pitching [DE] Joey Bosa as West Coast Gronk on every billboard I can find." Meanwhile, NFL owners were "talking privately about trying to get a proposal to Spanos this week to make him re-think a move to L.A. right now." Spanos is "banking on" several reports that have indicated to the league that L.A. is a "strong" market. The NFL "should be able to have two stable franchises there, just as the MLB and NBA do" (CBSSPORTS.com, 1/12). Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said it is “hard having one” NFL team, so “it’s going to be harder” for L.A. now having two. Carroll: “It’s an extraordinary challenge for the people of the area to figure out their allegiance and what they’re doing. ... It’s an enormous experiment” (SEATTLE TIMES, 1/13). Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio: "It makes me wonder whether or not one of these two teams are eventually going to say, ‘Maybe we need to move somewhere else’" ("PFT," NBCSN, 1/13).

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: USA TODAY's Tom Pelissero writes it seems the Chargers saw their move as a "binary equation." Pelissero: "Public money, they stay in San Diego. No public money, they go." That stance was "perplexing inside the NFL, given Spanos had made abundantly clear he didn’t really want to relocate, much less under these terms" (USA TODAY, 1/13). The AP's Tim Dahlberg writes the Chargers' move is "perplexing at best, especially if Spanos ends up having to pay his fellow owners" a $650M relocation fee. That "might have been money the team could have put toward a new stadium in San Diego" -- along with $300M from the NFL -- had it "not been so obsessed with getting taxpayers to fund it." Dahlberg: "Greed usually wins out." The Chargers will be "far more valuable" in L.A. than in the smaller market of San Diego (AP, 1/13). USA TODAY's Nate Davis noted NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a statement on the Chargers' decision "opted to remind" San Diego that it "blew many opportunities to prevent the franchise from relocating." Meanwhile, Spanos had "less to say to the city but publicly took the high road" (USATODAY.com, 1/12). An L.A. TIMES editorial states that Spanos "should remember" that a city’s "love for a team depends on the love the team shows back by investing in the community and a quality product." Los Angelenos "could be forgiven for wondering how long it will be before Spanos decides that sharing a stadium isn’t ideal and that taxpayers here should build him a new one -- or else" (L.A. TIMES, 1/13). In L.A., Dylan Hernandez writes L.A. should "take a step back," as there is "really no downside" to the Chargers moving to the city. L.A. does not "have to love the Chargers," nor does it "have to hate them, either." Hernandez: "We can do to them what we do with almost everything in this city: ignore them" (L.A. TIMES, 1/13).

CAN L.A. SUPPORT ANOTHER TEAM? In DC, Mark Maske notes NFL owners and officials "remain hopeful" that once the Inglewood stadium is completed in '19, the outlook for L.A. as an NFL market "will be far different." One NFL team official said, "I don’t think anyone should try to judge until the new stadium opens. That’s when we’ll find out. Don’t judge things with the interim setup and the temporary arrangements. That stadium is what sold people on his (Kroenke’s) plan. We’re optimistic that it will turn out well" (WASHINGTON POST, 1/13). SportsCorp President Marc Ganis said relocating to L.A. is the "best available option right now for the Chargers." Ganis added he has "never been convinced" L.A. is a two-team NFL market. Ganis: "It has the potential to be a two-team market. L.A. has certain characteristics that diminish the size and demographics" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 1/13).

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