NFL Merry-Go-Round: Relocation Roundelay

[Sykotyk]

2 hours ago, Wings said:

Once the Chargers get settled into the Palace de Kroenke you wonder if Dean would be willing to sell the team once it's value increases being in LA. 

Part of the deal is a prohibition on the team being sold for a period of time (I believe it was 10 years, but not sure and don't feel like digging through articles about it). But, the NFL knows whichever team went to LA would become a financial juggernaut overnight. So, to offset that, they introduced the relocation fee AND put off the ability for the new owner to just sell the team at a profit after the move.

[Gothamite]

It was either 10 or 15 years.  For the reason you stated, so owners don't move for a quick buck. 

[Gothamite]

5 hours ago, rams80 said:

 

It has only happened once in American sports: the Cardinals rented Busch I from the then-St. Louis Browns until the Browns moved to Baltimore.

 

And the Cardinals almost moved because of it.   Before Busch bought the club, they were on their way out.  But he poured so much money into the club that the Browns couldn't compete, eventually had to sell the stadium to their tenant, and start preparing for a move back to Milwaukee. 

[bosrs1]

5 hours ago, tigerslionspistonshabs said:

I'm curious to know the answer to this. If anyone here is from San Diego, or St. Louis for that matter? Will your fandom follow your team. I'm sure it's different for some Chargers fan in Portland, Maine. What's it matter to him where they play. But for that true San Diegoan, what's the verdict?

 

Also- 3,000th post!

 

Bolts from the Blue ran a poll (unscientific I know but about as good as you'll get) and about 68% of Chargers fans are not following them north. And talking to fans the last two days many who thought they would locally have changed to "no way" now that the actual pain of relocation has set in.

 

On the more scientific front the UT/10News ran a real poll of Chargers fans and only 19% said they'd remain fans. 12% aren't sure yet. 48% are jumping to another team. And worrisome for the NFL, 21% are no longer NFL fans.

 

http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=c8a91147-3ad7-4ade-8878-9ea520fed529&c=37

 

[LMU]

As weird as it is for me to say, I think I'm actually more likely to go to a Chargers game than a Rams game.  The reason being that the Coliseum is way too much of an ordeal to get to let alone park at whereas StubHub Center is less than a 15 minute drive and I pass the damn thing going to work every day.

 

Then again, the Forum is a 15 minute drive the other direction so come 2019 it might be a coin flip of who I pick.  I was kind of a Charger fan anyway before the Rams moved back home so I guess I'll go ahead and support both of them.

[The_Admiral]

 

we live in The Zone now

[IceCap]

I applaud Mark Davis for finding a path to awesomeness completely separate from the one his father took.

[2001mark]

Paper > digital newspaper reading.

[Sodboy13]

8 hours ago, the admiral said:

Have we heard anything about how people in the NFL feel about this Oilers-at-the-Liberty-Bowl-level indignity? Are they still cool with whatever because Dean's A Good Guy?

 

The impression I've gotten from my limited reading is that no one outside of Dean Spanos is happy that it's going down this way, and even he has to view this as a last resort after he failed to fleece San Diego and the league set the Raiders/Chargers combo move on fire in front of his face. His team will never be relevant, but thanks to his sublet at Stan Kroenke's Football Dystopia & Wigsphere, it will be worth a lot more money.

[OnWis97]

1 hour ago, 2001mark said:

Paper > digital newspaper reading.

Team jacket from garage sale > team jacket from O.co Gift Shop.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

4 hours ago, bosrs1 said:

 

Bolts from the Blue ran a poll (unscientific I know but about as good as you'll get) and about 68% of Chargers fans are not following them north. And talking to fans the last two days many who thought they would locally have changed to "no way" now that the actual pain of relocation has set in.

 

On the more scientific front the UT/10News ran a real poll of Chargers fans and only 19% said they'd remain fans. 12% aren't sure yet. 48% are jumping to another team. And worrisome for the NFL, 21% are no longer NFL fans.

 

http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=c8a91147-3ad7-4ade-8878-9ea520fed529&c=37

 

 

It's very different, but no one (except :censored:s) like the OKC Thunder here. There's some lingering Kevin Durant appreciation, but it's basically nothing now.

 

The difference, I think, is that Seattle would embrace a new NBA team in a heartbeat. Would San Diego go for a new NFL team? Probably, but I could totally see the NFL lose that TV market for a long time. Worse yet, is that LA is so close that the Chargers will remain the default AFC team on Sundays. That cuts.

[Sykotyk]

As a Browns fan, I was 13 when they moved. Though I followed college football, the NFL was such a big deal that I still watched in their absence. Knowing shortly after the move that Cleveland would get the Browns back certainly helped tide me over for the 3 years. Also, I latched onto the expansion Carolina Panthers for three years, and still have a soft spot for them all these years later.

 

Given my age, I think I would've stayed a Panthers fan HAD the Browns never come back. And if it weren't the Browns, I doubt I would ever have cheered for a Cleveland-based NFL team again. I'm far enough away that it wasn't the overwhelming logistical choice.

 

But I know MANY Browns fans, mostly extended family, that were diehard fans who not only stopped following the Browns upon their return, but generally just stopped watching the NFL at all after the move. The Browns aren't their team. The NFL sold them out rather than forcing Modell to sell when it was clear there was a way for the team to succeed in Cleveland. Hell, Modell didn't want to sell, but shortly after moving to Baltimore he still sold half the team (and eventually the rest minus 1%), and could have easily funded the team in light of selling a percentage. Something he had to do anyways.

 

If I weren't 13 at the time. If say, I was 30 when that happened. I think my interest in the NFL would be nil. I'm in my 30s now, and just following how the league has become bigger than its teams, has turned me off from it. I was a Browns season ticket holder for 11 years before giving them up before last year. My biggest complaint is ANY time I talked to the ticket rep about things taking place with the team or stadium, the default answer was "that's an NFL policy" or "the NFL made us", such as the Browns announcing Hines Wards' passing a particular passing milestone at Cleveland Browns Stadium.  The NFL almost forcing the Browns to have a moment of silence for Art Modell was 'NFL's decision' and then to pander to "Oh, the Modell's asked for Cleveland not to" rather than the obvious "We let our teams decide whether to hold the moment of silence".

[Cujo]

LAS VEGAS RAIDERS, IT IS!

 

[JayMac]

So in 2016, it was the rivals, San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders. Fast forward to the next calendar year and it will be the rivals, Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders. Unbelievable. Like somebody had mentioned before, it's scary to think that franchises may move just because they can't get public funds to replace a 20-30 year old stadium.

[FiddySicks]

What a garbage couple of off seasons this has been. St. Louis loses their team last year to LA (A city that, deep down, really doesn't care about having a team), and now San Diego loses it's team to the same damn city St. Louis does, and the east bay loses their team to :censored:ty ass Las :censored:ing Vegas, of all terrible locations. I've been more and more turned off by the NFL the last few years for a lot of reasons, but this all makes me downright sick to my stomach in so much deeper of a way. This feels like a really dark, ugly, and even scary, turning point for the league which I think is going to have long term ramifications more than most people realize. With the way the winds have been blowing with professional football lately, I kinda had the feeling the point was going to come eventually where the league would began cannibalizing itself. But damn if it didn't come MUCH quicker than I expected. 

 

I'm honestly not sure what the future holds for this league. It could be bad, or it could be where the owners continue to rake in cash hnd over fist. But I can't help but feel that the NFL has hit its peak, and the downward trend isn't terribly far away. Maybe not financially, but at least in terms of enjoyability. 

[TheGrimReaper]

LA as a whole isn't a great sports market, but there are still a lot of people who really do care about sports, and particularly having an NFL team. 

[FiddySicks]

Yeah, but two? all in the course of just a few months? It's the definition of overkill, and (which has been said before) feels like all the same mistakes are just being repeated. 

[TheGrimReaper]

oh of course they shouldnt have two (unless it were the raiders) but many people were happy to have their rams back, and even more people were happy that they can see their favorite team come to town. 

 

I definitely agree these moves will start to have a negative effect on the league. Like Mark Cuban said, the league will start to implode abit. Lots of bad decisions all around (ie thursday night football)

[DG_ThenNowForever]

God dammit. Oakland's team finally get good and they both get whisked away to terrible places.

 

To say nothing of the gentrification and disacement in Oakland because San Francisco property owners feel entitled to preserve their city (and sell their 1,000 sq ft ramblers for $3 million).

 

I've only spent limited time in Oakland but I know people from there. Maybe the city shouldn't be able to support three major league teams, but neither should Las Vegas exist.

 

Not fair. Said. 2017 has only barely started and just look at it.

[LMU]

The thing is that there are so many points along the road that brought us to this point.

 

What if the Irsay/Rosenbloom swap never happened?

What if Rosenbloom never drowned?

What if St. Louis didn't write up a lease it had no plans on honoring the terms of?

What if Al Davis didn't insist on moving down to a depression-era stadium that was so massive that he had no hope of avoiding blackouts?

What if the Padres didn't run into all of the financial issues that plagued the construction of Petco?

 

Then we have something as simple as the NFL not forcing the provision down Davis' throat that his Hollywood Park stadium be required to host two teams.

 

Quite frankly, if we were in an ideal world, the Raiders would have been in Inglewood a couple decades ago and the Rams would still be in St. Louis which would have hopefully prevented the Chargers from having an easy out from their San Diego situation.  More importantly, at least in my view, the A's wouldn't have had their stadium ruined and might have been in a better position to renovate/have a new park taken care of.

 

(and in all honesty the Raiders staying in LA all by themselves probably would have made them easier for me to stomach since now in the LA area the majority of the remaining Raider fan base come across as a bunch of tough guys embracing gang culture.  Plus a new stadium night have priced out the trash that was ruining the game experience at the Coliseum).