After fifty years the San Diego Chargers are set to return to Los Angeles and most San Diegans won’t care, say four of the “most plugged-in” media personalities covering the Chargers.
“I was amazed by the poll we had that showed how many people don’t care if they leave,” said Kevin Acee, sports columnist for the U-T San Diego said at the discussion on May 27.
Six-hundred people took a U-T San Diego/10News poll online asking how much they would care if the Chargers left: 45 percent responded with “very,” 17 percent responded “somewhat,” 13 percent responded “not very” and 25 percent responded “not at all,” according to the U-T San Diego.
Thirty people attended a discussion with four panelists at U-T San Diego: Acee; Marty Caswell-producer of “The Mighty 1090” radio show; Scott Lewis and Bernie Wilson, a sports writer for The Associated Press.
All the panelists agreed on one thing: the Chargers are going to leave San Diego.
“The Chargers’ deadlines and demands make it clear they want to be in LA and may be afraid of being stuck in San Diego,” said Lewis, the editor-in-chief of Voice of San Diego.
According to NBC Sports, the Chargers are proposing a $1.1 billion stadium plan in order for them to stay in San Diego; the Chargers agree to pay $300 million and the NFL would pay $200 million toward this project. The rest of the money would be paid by the city, or a little over $500 million. If a consensus isn’t reached soon, the Chargers plan to move to the Carson Stadium or a stadium close by in Inglewood, California. The other specifics behind the plan have not been discussed yet; the $1.1 billion is on the front end of the negotiations.
If the new stadium is built, this could result in extra fees for fans which might deter fans from purchasing a personal seat license for the season and the U-T San Diego says that 64 percent of the people surveyed claimed they would not buy one.
One San Diego woman and Charger fan, Brianna Depew, said that if the Chargers move to L.A, fans won’t even bother to see them.
“Are the fans really going to be pumped to see the Chargers if they end up losing games?” said Depew after the panel ended. “Also if the Chargers don’t stay in San Diego, it will piss off fans because they will have to commute, making it a major turnoff.”
The U-T San Diego reported that AEG executive Ted Fikre warned Carson mayor, Jim Dear, in a letter that the project is both “deeply flawed” and “an open invitation to litigation.”
However, according to NBC Los Angeles, the Hollywood Park Racetrack grandstand in Los Angeles was demolished Sunday, making room for a $2 billion football stadium.
There is no confirmation by the Chargers whether they are going to move. Wilson, sports writer for the Associated Press, doesn’t think there will be a decision anytime soon. He said almost every time he has reached out to Mark Fabiani, spokesperson for the Chargers, he hasn’t been able to get information to him or has said that it wasn’t ready yet. He also read out several emails to attendees where he reached out to Fabiani and he hadn’t responded.
The Point reached out to the Community Relations Department June 4 for comment from Fabiani.
