Chargers Special Adviser Fred Maas on Monday in a meeting with San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer reiterated that the team "won't be making any decisions about a possible move" to L.A. until after the season ends on Jan. 1, according to David Garrick of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Faulconer on Monday discussed the city's pursuit of a new stadium with Maas, the team’s "point man on the issue." But Faulconer's Press Secretary and Dir of Media Relations Craig Gustafson said that the roughly half-hour conversation only "included a general discussion of the 'stadium situation.'" Garrick notes the Chargers have until Jan. 15 to "exercise an option the team received from the NFL" in January '15 to "join the Rams in a new stadium" in the L.A. suburb of Inglewood. Gustafson "declined to say whether additional meetings have been scheduled" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 12/7).
EXPLORING THEIR OPTIONS: L.A. Memorial Coliseum Commission President Mark Ridley-Thomas said that the Chargers "recently have been in contact" with reps of the Coliseum about "possibly relocating there" for the '17 season. Ridley-Thomas: "In light of the vote of the people of San Diego, it’s back on the table in earnest. So the appropriate amount of due diligence continues to be done, and we will see if in fact we can strike a deal." USA TODAY's Brent Schrotenboer notes if the Chargers "decide to move, the Coliseum could serve as a temporary home for them and the Rams" in '17 and '18. The "much smaller StubHub Center" in Carson also is a possibility. To play at the Coliseum, the Chargers "would need the Coliseum Commission to change its lease terms" with USC, which "operates the facility." The current lease "allows only one NFL team to play there temporarily -- the Rams." Adding a second NFL team to the Coliseum would "require a lease amendment to be voted on by the commission, whose next regular meeting is Jan. 26" (USA TODAY, 12/7).
STILL STRONG: In San Diego, Kevin Acee notes Chargers "attendance is down" this season, and it is as "bad as it has been" since '00 when the team was 1-15. The "average attendance of 55,488 over six home games this season is 31st in the NFL, down more than 11,000 from last year and 10,000 from the average of the previous 15 years." However, that is "still 55,000 people showing up when the home team isn’t very good and the visiting teams have included" the Jaguars, Titans, Dolphins and Buccaneers. Acee notes it "only looked like there was an abundance of opposing fans in a couple of those games." Acee: "More than 45,000 people continue to come to cheer on a team that has disappointed them most years and for two years has treated them like -- in not precisely the word of fans -- excrement." Meanwhile, there are "hundreds of thousands" that tune in at home on TV. The Chargers are averaging a 25.6 local rating this season. Acee: "That’s nearly a third of the county. The NFL knows all this. They don’t want to lose San Diego as a market" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 12/7).
