San Dee-Ay-Go, make that Los An-Gel-Es, Super Chargers?

Spanos might come out of this smelling like a rose. Forget loans, he might get straight cash from the league to build in San Diego. I could see them telling him to put his $650M toward construction instead of the relocation fee, and they'll cover the rest.

 

Holy shit, the voice of reason. It's probably too sensible to happen.

 

Isn't the rationale for Spanos relocating is the anticipated revenue that comes from being in LA? Owners didn't offer him anything more at the finance committee meeting. Spanos isn't moving back.

 

He has no anticipated revenue other than the 10 home games a year. And I don't think anyone expects anything close to sellouts. The added revenue is a pittance.

I don't think owners around the league were fully aware of the apathy and/or contempt the people of Los Angeles have for this move. They're reacting to the reaction. Things have changed.

Plus, Kroenke's pissed. He either wasn't pissed or didn't make that known earlier.

 

The answer: The Chargers simply lose all home games. All 20 games are played on the road or at "neutral" sites.

 

Sports Authority Field in Denver was constructed for 400 millions and finished in 2001. That is about 550 million in 2017 dollars. It seems to be fine. Why can't the Spanos's build a functional stadium in San Diego for close to 650 million. What bells and whistles are in a 1.2 billion dollar stadium that are not in a 15 year old facility.

 

Ha, good one. It's in California for one thing, so there's not going to be much room for penny-pinching. And nobody is building bargain basement stuff anymore.

The 49ers' stadium cost $1.3B and the Rams' is tagged at $2B. Something between $900M and $1B is the discount rate. (A lot of the added cost over 15 years ago is the wiring for the Internet age.)

 

There are more facts in a Trump tweet than that Schefter uarticle. Spanos has burned his bridge back to San Diego. I find it hard to believe that there are owners stupid enough to think he could turn around now.

 

I'm obviously missing something, but why is the NFL and the owners pissed at Spanos?

They voted last year to give the Chargers a one-year window to move to LA to join up with Kroenke. He tried one last time to get a stadium paid for in SD, and when that didn't happen, he did what everyone voted to give him the right to do.

If everyone is pissed, then it's really because Goodell and all the owners shit the bed and didn't think this through.

 

I'm guessing Schefter's "sources" is some mid-level NFL exec or he wouldn't have thrown in into a notebook.

 

You answered yourself.

I think the league is gobsmacked by the negative reaction. In their arrogance, they think they're a blessing to every city they enter.

They tried to play hardball with San Diego, and San Diego called their bluff. And now they're looking at the real possibility of doing damage to the L.A. market which is the last thing the league wants to do.

 

Snarkness aside, what am I missing? Didn't the Chargers do exactly what the owners voted to allow them to do?