Los Angeles NFL Brands Discussion

[IceCap]

Just now, colortv said:

 

We I'm going to wait until the real season to judge the attendance.

"But it's just pre-season" doesn't take into account the fact that it was the team's first game in the new market, and that the "intimate" stadium experience was sold as a feature and not a bug. They should have been able to fill the place just on curiosity alone. It didn't happen though, and I have to guess it's because no one in LA cares about the Chargers. One way or another.

[bosrs1]

3 minutes ago, colortv said:

 

They will draw opposing team fans from as far as south as San Diego and as far north as Bakersfield. 

 

We'll see. Somehow I think you overestimate how far even opposing fans will drive for games. Or how many there are...

[Ark]

Since there are only 27,000 seats in the stadium, Chargers tickets are also really expensive.

 

Honestly they will probably get even fewer fans during the regular season. 

[Quillz]

What if they switched to yellow and blue? Wasn't that their Color Rush jersey? I actually kind of liked that one.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

6 hours ago, colortv said:

I think they will have more support from San Diego than people anticipate. Just based on observations here and there of the fanbase. At the end of the day it's just a weekend excursion when you have tons of people commuting back and forth between the cities every weekend anyway.

 

Despite the understandable hurt feelings, any San Diego Chargers fan who is thinking will realise that he/she can still watch the team on TV every week, and can still read the SB Nation blog covering the team. I don't know whether the newspapers will send beat reporters to cover the team; but I assume they will.  So, for the majority of the team's old fans, nothing will have changed.

 

And, as you mentioned, anyone who wants to attend a game can do so by taking a drive that is not very long by Western standards; and, what's more, they might even be encouraged to do so by the guarantee of a good seat demonstrated by the low pre-season attendance.

 

So maybe some San Diego fans will decide not to spite themselves, and to just watch and enjoy.

[aawagner011]

40 minutes ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

Despite the understandable hurt feelings, any San Diego Chargers fan who is thinking will realise that he/she can still watch the team on TV every week, and can still read the SB Nation blog covering the team. I don't know whether the newspapers will send beat reporters to cover the team; but I assume they will.  So, for the majority of the team's old fans, nothing will have changed.

 

And, as you mentioned, anyone who wants to attend a game can do so by taking a drive that is not very long by Western standards; and, what's more, they might even be encouraged to do so by the guarantee of a good seat demonstrated by the low pre-season attendance.

 

So maybe some San Diego fans will decide not to spite themselves, and to just watch and enjoy.

 

I'm sure for most people it was devastating that the team left San Diego to go represent another city. They may still look like the same Chargers but they sure aren't San Diego's Chargers anymore. If one of my favorite teams moved away, I guarantee my interest would plummet given they're no longer the "home squad." The players and coaches come and go. The logos may evolve over time. It's that emotional connection knowing that team represents your city that creates that bond. If one of my teams decided 20 years from now that they'd like to move a state away, sure, it wouldn't be a terrible drive to go see a game...but they wouldn't be my city's team and that's all the difference in the world. I'm sure most San Diegans feel the same way.

[63Bulldogs63]

7 minutes ago, aawagner011 said:

 

I'm sure for most people it was devastating that the team left San Diego to go represent another city. They may still look like the same Chargers but they sure aren't San Diego's Chargers anymore. If one of my favorite teams moved away, I guarantee my interest would plummet given they're no longer the "home squad." The players and coaches come and go. The logos may evolve over time. It's that emotional connection knowing that team represents your city that creates that bond. If one of my teams decided 20 years from now that they'd like to move a state away, sure, it wouldn't be a terrible drive to go see a game...but they wouldn't be my city's team and that's all the difference in the world. I'm sure most San Diegans feel the same way.

I was dead set on not being a Kings fan during the almost moves to Anaheim, Va Beach, Seattle. Had they moved I probably wouldn't have even watched basketball any longer. There's an inherent connection one has with their local team kind of goes away when that team leaves.

[FiddySicks]

2 hours ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

Despite the understandable hurt feelings, any San Diego Chargers fan who is thinking will realise that he/she can still watch the team on TV every week, and can still read the SB Nation blog covering the team. I don't know whether the newspapers will send beat reporters to cover the team; but I assume they will.  So, for the majority of the team's old fans, nothing will have changed.

 

And, as you mentioned, anyone who wants to attend a game can do so by taking a drive that is not very long by Western standards; and, what's more, they might even be encouraged to do so by the guarantee of a good seat demonstrated by the low pre-season attendance.

 

So maybe some San Diego fans will decide not to spite themselves, and to just watch and enjoy.

 

You haven't spent much time in San Diego, have you? There's NO WAY San Diego based fans are sticking with them after all of this. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

10 hours ago, Lights Out said:

Clippers status would be an upgrade. The Chargers are Chivas USA status, even to the point of sharing the StubHub Center with the Galaxy.

 

It is so damn funny that their TV initials are LAC. It's too perfect.

[Rockstar Matt]

1 hour ago, Bucfan56 said:

 

You haven't spent much time in San Diego, have you? There's NO WAY San Diego based fans are sticking with them after all of this. 

 

That's not quite necessarily true. I mean after all, there were still tons of Rams fans in the LA area despite the manner in which they left. Sure they were relegated to probably the 3rd or 4th favorite team in LA during the 21 years without a team, but they still had support. I imagine San Diego will be the same. Most fans will cut their ties with the Chargers and never look back, but there will still be a decent amount of San Diego based fans who stick around. The TV ratings in San Diego have dwarfed what they've done in LA so far too. 

[Ben in LA]

5 hours ago, aawagner011 said:

 

I'm sure for most people it was devastating that the team left San Diego to go represent another city. They may still look like the same Chargers but they sure aren't San Diego's Chargers anymore. If one of my favorite teams moved away, I guarantee my interest would plummet given they're no longer the "home squad." The players and coaches come and go. The logos may evolve over time. It's that emotional connection knowing that team represents your city that creates that bond. If one of my teams decided 20 years from now that they'd like to move a state away, sure, it wouldn't be a terrible drive to go see a game...but they wouldn't be my city's team and that's all the difference in the world. I'm sure most San Diegans feel the same way.

That's EXACTLY how I felt when the Rams (and to a lesser extent the Raiders) left.  I just didn't care as much anymore.  It wasn't until around 2002 I decided to adopt the Chargers as my NFL team since they were the closest to my home...and that's after watching both the Raiders AND the Rams play in Super Bowls.  I almost adopted the Cardinals, but I knew going to a home game would be more difficult than just hitting Interstate 5 southbound...something I do at least once a month to visit friends.

 

I still followed the Rams' exploits while they were gone though, just to a lesser extent.  When they returned last year, of course I was happy: my childhood team was back.  Not that I just dropped the Chargers; they're still my AFC team of choice.  Of course when the Rams play the Bolts, it's all about the Rams.

 

Another thing.  I obviously know how folks in San Diego are feeling right now...but I also remember how much they trolled Los Angeles when we lost two teams.  Stuff like that I never forget.  So a part of me feels sympathetic...but the petty side of me is like haha sucks the shoe is on the other foot, huh?  At least they're technically still close to the team; St. Louis is pretty darn far away from the City of Angels.  Hell, a few friends of mine who are die hard Raiders fans still make the drive up to Oaktown...and will have no problem hitting that I-15 north when they move to Sin City.  Those are REAL fans.

 

Even though I'm happy the Chargers are here (and no, I don't mind Stub Hub Center), I still feel,they should've stayed in San Diego.  But hey, I understand both sides of the equation with the owners and the paying public.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

6 hours ago, aawagner011 said:

I'm sure for most people it was devastating that the team left San Diego to go represent another city. They may still look like the same Chargers but they sure aren't San Diego's Chargers anymore. If one of my favorite teams moved away, I guarantee my interest would plummet given they're no longer the "home squad." The players and coaches come and go. The logos may evolve over time. It's that emotional connection knowing that team represents your city that creates that bond. If one of my teams decided 20 years from now that they'd like to move a state away, sure, it wouldn't be a terrible drive to go see a game...but they wouldn't be my city's team and that's all the difference in the world. I'm sure most San Diegans feel the same way.

 

6 hours ago, 63Bulldogs63 said:

There's an inherent connection one has with their local team kind of goes away when that team leaves.

 

Please do not compare this with the cross-country moves of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants.  This is a move to the next town over; it has more in common with the 49ers' move to Santa Clara.

 

Also, let's realise that the Raiders retained plenty of fans in both Oakland and Los Angeles after their moves away from those cities, and that the Rams maintained L.A. fans even after a move of 2000 miles to St. Louis.  The Charger fans have it easy by comparison.

 

 

4 hours ago, Bucfan56 said:

You haven't spent much time in San Diego, have you? There's NO WAY San Diego based fans are sticking with them after all of this. 

 

I have not spent time in San Diego. But I have spent plenty of time in New York, where the fans of the Giants and Jets from the City and from Long island stayed with those teams after the teams' moves to New Jersey. 

 

And, whereas New York City looks down at New Jersey currently, when the Giants went out there in the mid-1970s, New York City was perceived to be in decline; so at that time it was suburban New Jersey which sneered at us.  At that historical moment, New York City was the inferior partner in the cultural rivalry with New Jersey, just as San Diego is the inferior partner in the cultural rivalry with Los Angeles.  But if proud New Yorkers could stomach the fact that their team was now playing in New Jersey, then San Diegans can do likewise with their team playing in Los Angeles.

 

Also, for any Giant fans or Jet fans on Long Island, the trip to a game requires a travel time well in excess of two hours each way.  So, even though the raw number of miles travelled is much less than the distance between San Diego and Los Angeles, the treks are comparable.  And here we also mustn't ignore the different attitudes toward distance in the West versus in the East:  driving 100 miles out West is the equivalent of driving about 40 miles on the East Coast.

 

So San Diego's Charger fans will be fine, if they choose to be. And, if they're smart, they'll see that continuing to express support might in the long run get the team to move back, as the Raiders and the Rams did in response to enduring fan loyalty in the abandoned cities of Oakland and Los Angeles, respectively, and as the Raiders could have done with Los Angeles had they elected to do so.

[Old School Fool]

I can't imagine San Diego wants anything to do with the Chargers. Spanos didn't burn the bridge, he blew it up.

[Lights Out]

11 hours ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

Despite the understandable hurt feelings, any San Diego Chargers fan who is thinking will realise that he/she can still watch the team on TV every week, and can still read the SB Nation blog covering the team. I don't know whether the newspapers will send beat reporters to cover the team; but I assume they will.  So, for the majority of the team's old fans, nothing will have changed.

 

And, as you mentioned, anyone who wants to attend a game can do so by taking a drive that is not very long by Western standards; and, what's more, they might even be encouraged to do so by the guarantee of a good seat demonstrated by the low pre-season attendance.

 

So maybe some San Diego fans will decide not to spite themselves, and to just watch and enjoy.

No offense, but you really don't understand the situation. As long as the Spanos family owns the Chargers, the majority of San Diegans will no longer have anything to do with them. It doesn't matter if they're playing two hours up the road or on Mars.

 

Bottom line: the Spanii spent the last 33 years fielding a dysfunctional losing franchise (256-272 overall record under Spanos ownership, including the playoffs; 0 rings and only 12 winning seasons) while treating their paying customers like dog :censored: under their shoe. They spent the last 23 years or so slowly packing the moving vans for LA, lying about their desire to stay in town while refusing to ever compromise or put in effort. On top of all that, they spent many years bilking the taxpayers with an unfair ticket guarantee deal that the city only agreed to under the premise that it would keep the Chargers in town forever.

 

Why would you expect San Diegans to keep supporting a family that treated them like crap, screwed over their city and moved their team to a city that didn't want them? Especially when the franchise is such a joke that it's not even worth it anymore?

[bosrs1]

9 hours ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

 

Please do not compare this with the cross-country moves of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants.  This is a move to the next town over; it has more in common with the 49ers' move to Santa Clara.

 

 

I didn't read beyond this as you clearly don't understand the dynamics of the relationships between San Francisco/Santa Clara and San Diego/Los Angeles. Santa Clara is a constituent city of the San Francisco Bay Area and suburb of both San Francisco historically, and San Jose more recently, and is only 40 miles from the former. Santa Clara looks to San Francisco as "The City", hence the Niners didn't rebrand when they moved just like the Jets and Giants didn't when they moved to the Meadowlands. They didn't leave their existing market and actually moved closer to the bulk of where their ticket buyers were in the South Bay and on the Peninsula. San Diego and Los Angeles on the other hand are two completely different major cities in two completely different metro areas separated by far more than just the 120 miles between them, socially, politically, etc... 

 

Since you admit you've never been to San Diego and are a New Yorker let me enlighten you. The move of the Chargers to LA would be as if the Giants or Jets moved to Philly, Baltimore or Boston (not across the river from Manhattan to suburban New Jersey, that would have been if the Chargers had gone through with their proposed moves to suburban Chula Vista or Oceanside as they discussed 15 years ago). Would you as a New Yorker continue to root for the Philadelphia Jets or Giants? The Boston Jets or Giants? If the answer is no, which I suspect it is... then you have your answer as to why almost everyone in San Diego has dumped the Chargers like a bad habit.

[SCL]

The SD resident Charger fans I know jumped off

[63Bulldogs63]

3 hours ago, bosrs1 said:

 

I didn't read beyond this as you clearly don't understand the dynamics of the relationships between San Francisco/Santa Clara and San Diego/Los Angeles. Santa Clara is a constituent city of the San Francisco Bay Area and suburb of both San Francisco historically, and San Jose more recently, and is only 40 miles from the former. Santa Clara looks to San Francisco as "The City", hence the Niners didn't rebrand when they moved just like the Jets and Giants didn't when they moved to the Meadowlands. They didn't leave their existing market and actually moved closer to the bulk of where their ticket buyers were in the South Bay and on the Peninsula. San Diego and Los Angeles on the other hand are two completely different major cities in two completely different metro areas separated by far more than just the 120 miles between them, socially, politically, etc... 

 

Since you admit you've never been to San Diego and are a New Yorker let me enlighten you. The move of the Chargers to LA would be as if the Giants or Jets moved to Philly, Baltimore or Boston (not across the river suburban New Jersey, that would have been if the Chargers had gone through with their move to suburban Chula Vista or Oceanside as they discussed 15 years ago). Would you as a New Yorker continue to root for the Philadelphia Jets or Giants? The Boston Jets or Giants? If the answer is no, which I suspect it is... then you have your answer as to why almost everyone in San Diego has dumped the Chargers like a bad habit.

This is exactly the case. I think the rest of his post clearly shows the misconception that east coasters have about the west coast. Especially about California. 

[oldschoolvikings]

Yeah, this is all pretty familiar. Back when the move was being discussed in a thread in general sports, Ferdinand Cesarano tossed around the same nonsense there. Saying the move from San Diego to LA was basically like the move of New York teams to Jersey.  He was shot down over and over there by numerous former fans of the Chargers from San Diego, but still refused to admit he was misreading the situation. Fans run on emotion, not logic, and talking about the short distance, the TV coverage... it's completely missing the point.

 

I have a better analogy for Ferdinand.  Let's say your girlfriend dumps you, and then starts dating your brother.  Hey, what's the problem?  You still get to see her all the time, right?  She's probably still hanging around the house, maybe she's there for breakfast a few days a week.  If you think about it, it might be better, now that your brother has to pay for her on dates.

 

Yeah, no.  San Diego fans will forever feel slighted, feel dumped, and they should.  It was an idiot move by an idiot owner. No self respecting San Diegoian will ever say, "still me team"... period.

[Gothamite]

10 hours ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

And, whereas New York City looks down at New Jersey currently, when the Giants went out there in the mid-1970s, New York City was perceived to be in decline; so at that time it was suburban New Jersey which sneered at us.  At that historical moment, New York City was the inferior partner in the cultural rivalry with New Jersey

 

Hate to go off-topic, but no.  No it wasn't.

 

Not even in the "Drop dead!" era. 

[PrimalCookie]

Basically, the only true connection that I had to the Magic when I became a fan years and years ago was the city name: ORLANDO. That's it. If the team moves away, I really have no obligation to continue being a fan, even if they keep the name Magic. I guess you can also compare LA-San Diego to Orlando-Miami, for all you Floridians out there. While there is really not too much milage between the cities, the cultural differences run very deep. No one with a reasonable mind lives in Orlando and works in Miami, or vice versa. While obviously I don't know much about the West Coast or California (I have been to San Diego twice (beautiful city btw) but haven't been to LA yet), I would imagine that it works somewhat like that. 

 

If some Californian wants to completely rebuff my argument, then go ahead. I have absolutely no knowledge of how things work over there. I'm just using some local examples to try and prove my point.