Menu
Franchises

Rams Top Chargers In "Battle For L.A." As Teams Find Market Footing

Some believe the Rams have the upper hand on the Chargers in the L.A. market thus farGETTY IMAGES

The Rams "completed their formal occupation" of L.A. yesterday by "beating the Chargers in the one place they haven’t faced them, on an actual football field in a regular-season game," according to Bill Plaschke of the L.A. TIMES. It has taken "more than a year now," but the "obvious became official Sunday afternoon in an emotional battle for a city’s pro football soul." The Rams "continue to grow roots while the Chargers continue to drift." It is the Chargers who "coined the phrase, 'The Fight for L.A,' but it is the Rams who have turned it into an early knockout." There was a "surprisingly large number of Chargers fans who showed up, their powder-blue jerseys impressively breaking up the sea of dark blue while accounting for about" 40% of the crowd (L.A. TIMES, 9/24). Chargers-Rams drew a crowd of 68,947 to the 93,607-capacity L.A. Coliseum (THE DAILY). CBSSN’s Amy Trask cautioned "not to read too much into attendance" at the Coliseum right now. The "ingress, the egress, the restrooms, the concessions are still fraught" and there are "problems all over.” There are “thousands and thousands” of seats that “do not have good sight lines” to the on-field action. Trask: “Don’t draw conclusions about attendance in Los Angeles until that new stadium opens”(“That Other Pregame Show,” CBSSN, 9/23).

STILL NOT SOLD? CBSSN's Evan Washburn said L.A. "still seems reluctant to completely buy in" despite not having a team for more than 20 years. That "could change" when the Rams and Chargers move into their new stadium in two years, but L.A. currently is a "town with stars from LeBron to Leo, so the Chargers and Rams need not to just win today, but in early February to truly win the fight for L.A." (“That Other Pregame Show,” CBSSN, 9/23). CBS Sports’ Jim Rome said, “Now that LeBron is here, the real fight for L.A. is between the Lakers and everybody else, but … the Rams are writing a perfect L.A. playbook with an ‘Avengers’ style cast and a prodigy calling the shots. L.A. is a star-driven town and this team is dripping in swag." He added, "If either one or both of these teams make a Super Bowl run this year, folks will be stepping on each other trying to pile onto that bandwagon” (“The NFL Today,” CBS, 9/23).

FINDING A FOOTING: ESPN.com's Eric Williams noted the Chargers have "found more steady footing in their second year after relocating from San Diego." Chargers President of Business Operations A.G. Spanos said, "We're still new to Los Angeles and the challenge is the same; we're still earning every fan's respect, and we've got to start by putting a good product on the field and making it a great experience." The Chargers made a three-year, $1.2M investment "in the Summer Night Lights program." Chargers Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer Jeffrey Pollack said, "I always believe the best marketing is based in the truth. And just as the fight for L.A. has been a call into ourselves to do what we do, which is roll up our sleeves and get a job done, the work that we do in the community is also about what we do naturally and authentically, and what the team has done for decades." The Chargers also "made a six-figure investment in the Boys and Girls Clubs' STEM program." These programs are "part of the team's effort to engage fans at a grassroots level to help grow support for the team" in L.A. SportsCorp President Marc Ganis "acknowledged that things are trending in the right direction for the Chargers, and expectations are improving as they try to establish themselves in L.A." Ganis said, "One thing which is obvious to those on the inside but may not be as much to those on the outside is how comfortable both teams are becoming in the L.A. market, and how they're starting to carve out separate markets for each, as opposed to cannibalizing the same market" (ESPN.com, 9/22).

TAKE YOUR TIME: THE ATHLETIC's Vincent Bosignore wrote the Chargers’ challenge is "building off that L.A. and Orange County season-ticket holder base they created while in San Diego, and that will take time." It will "take fielding entertaining and competitive teams and continuing to make their presence felt in the area." They have "shown a strong commitment, but again, it’s not an overnight proposition" (THEATHLETIC.com, 9/21). CBSSN’s London Fletcher: “The Rams, they’re like the Lakers, and the Chargers are like the Clippers” (“That Other Pregame Show,” CBSSN, 9/23).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2018/09/24/Franchises/Rams-Chargers.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2018/09/24/Franchises/Rams-Chargers.aspx

CLOSE