Los Angeles NFL Brands Discussion

[hawk36]

3 hours ago, TJSC said:

 

Here's my sloppy mockup of the dark grey/yellow recolor, the scheme distinguishes the Chargers enough from the Rams, and keeps the beloved Southern California yellow. Powder blues could be used as the throwbacks.

I like the color combo but not for the Chargers and not for a team in Los Angeles. Too close to smog. 

[SJAnfield]

It makes my heart hurt that a fan base will have their team ripped from their city, but I think it would be a huge mistake if they rebranded. Yes, they were only the LA Chargers for one season, but there is at least a connection. And the relocation is within the same general region. If they left Southern California, I would definitely see a reason to rebrand. Plus, the Chargers are an AFL original. 

[Mitch B]

2 hours ago, jojotarantino said:

As I said in a previous post, I prefer they cease to exist before being the LA Chargers.  I prefer a clean break. 

 

And I respect your opinion.  I would be interested, however, in seeing some survey data on this.  From an outsider looking in, it just seems like a shame to drop the Chargers all together.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, hawk36 said:

I like the color combo but not for the Chargers and not for a team in Los Angeles. Too close to smog. 

Los Angeles would like to welcome the newest NFL team, the LA Smog.  Brought to you by VW (among others).

[Midway]

I would like to see them rebrand for the sole reason of wanting to see what kind of crap they can come up with. 

[larrypep]

7 hours ago, Mitch B said:

What's worse if you are a diehard Chargers fan: your team relocating 2 hours north or your team not existing at all?

 

I've been a die hard SAN DIEGO Chargers fan since 1970, but if they move to LA they are essentially dead to me.  I will not root for them once they make the move to LA, that's just the way it is. 

 

That said, I am completely against them changing their name.  Suck it up Spanos, if you're going to take your clown show up north, stand in the fire with the product you've built and make it work, don't cop out and change everything, the fans in LA will see right through that BS.  

[bleuet]

5 hours ago, larrypep said:

 

I've been a die hard SAN DIEGO Chargers fan since 1970, but if they move to LA they are essentially dead to me.  I will not root for them once they make the move to LA, that's just the way it is. 

 

That said, I am completely against them changing their name.  Suck it up Spanos, if you're going to take your clown show up north, stand in the fire with the product you've built and make it work, don't cop out and change everything, the fans in LA will see right through that BS.  

 

We got a winner LA FIRE

[Lights Out]

14 hours ago, Mitch B said:

What's worse if you are a diehard Chargers fan: your team relocating 2 hours north or your team not existing at all?

If/when they move, they might as well not exist to me anymore. It'll be just like when my Expos moved to Washington - my fandom didn't move with them.

[leopard88]

16 hours ago, TJSC said:

 

Here's my sloppy mockup of the dark grey/yellow recolor, the scheme distinguishes the Chargers enough from the Rams, and keeps the beloved Southern California yellow. Powder blues could be used as the throwbacks.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, your Los Angeles ChaRaiders.

[TJSC]

14 minutes ago, leopard88 said:

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, your Los Angeles ChaRaiders.

 

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

On 12/20/2016 at 4:57 PM, jojotarantino said:

Die hard Charger fan here, from San Diego and I currently live in AZ but still spend a lot of time in San Diego.  I go to 2-3 games per year in my family's season tickets that we've had for over 20 years.  If they move to LA, I'm done with them.  There's no season ticket renewals, my family isn't going up to LA.  I have a closet full of stuff I won't know what to do with. It will make it easier for me to not see those lightning bolts at all anymore.  I need a clean break so I can start over as a fan of something else even though it will never be the same. I'd rather they cease to exist and become something totally new like an expansion team.  We can hope another team comes in and becomes the San Diego Chargers, but I don't see it ever happening.  I'd rather have the San Diego Chargers or no Chargers at all than have to see the LA Chargers on my TV.  And I hope Rivers and Gates retire if they leave.

 

2 hours ago, Lights Out said:

If/when they move, they might as well not exist to me anymore. It'll be just like when my Expos moved to Washington - my fandom didn't move with them.

 

 

Each fan approaches things in his/her own way; and I understand that being a fan is more an emotional thing than a rational thing.
 

Nevetheless, I will say that it is not appropriate to compare a move from San Diego up to Los Angeles to a move from Montreal to Washington.  In the grand scheme of things, this Chargers move barely counts as a move at all, considering (as I mentioned ealier) that the team's games will still be on the same radio stations, and that the team will still be covered by the same local newspapers, sports radio stations, and other media.  If you're not attending the game, there will be no difference whatsoever.

Imagine that there had never been an NFL team in San Diego; imagine that the AFL's L.A. Chargers had stayed in Los Angeles through the life of the AFL and after the merger.  In that case, football fans in San Diego would have gravitated towards one of the L.A. teams, either the Chargers or the Rams, just as football fans living 100 miles away from Pittsburgh root for the Steelers, and football fans living 100 miles away from Chicago root for the Bears.

I get that San Diego and Los Angeles are separate cities.  So are Washington and Baltimore.  So are San Francisco and Oakland and San Jose.  But, when only one city in any given cluster has a team, it naturally becomes the team for the entire region.

So, just as the Bullets didn't really leave Baltimore by moving only as far as Washington, and just as the Warriors didn't really leave San Francisco by moving only as far as Oakland, and just as the 49ers didn't really leave San Francisco (and didn't even change their name) by moving only to a place just outside San Jose, the Chargers won't really have left San Diego by moving merely to Los Angeles.  So Chargers fans will have no reason to act as though they have lost their team.

[bosrs1]

49 minutes ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

 

 

Each fan approaches things in his/her own way; and I understand that being a fan is more an emotional thing than a rational thing.
 

Nevetheless, I will say that it is not appropriate to compare a move from San Diego up to Los Angeles to a move from Montreal to Washington.  In the grand scheme of things, this Chargers move barely counts as a move at all, considering (as I mentioned ealier) that the team's games will still be on the same radio stations, and that the team will still be covered by the same local newspapers, sports radio stations, and other media.  If you're not attending the game, there will be no difference whatsoever.

Imagine that there had never been an NFL team in San Diego; imagine that the AFL's L.A. Chargers had stayed in Los Angeles through the life of the AFL and after the merger.  In that case, football fans in San Diego would have gravitated towards one of the L.A. teams, either the Chargers or the Rams, just as football fans living 100 miles away from Pittsburgh root for the Steelers, and football fans living 100 miles away from Chicago root for the Bears.

I get that San Diego and Los Angeles are separate cities.  So are Washington and Baltimore.  So are San Francisco and Oakland and San Jose.  But, when only one city in any given cluster has a team, it naturally becomes the team for the entire region.

So, just as the Bullets didn't really leave Baltimore by moving only as far as Washington, and just as the Warriors didn't really leave San Francisco by moving only as far as Oakland, and just as the 49ers didn't really leave San Francisco (and didn't even change their name) by moving only to a place just outside San Jose, the Chargers won't really have left San Diego by moving merely to Los Angeles.  So Chargers fans will have no reason to act as though they have lost their team.

 

I think that's where you're not understanding the dynamics of Southern California. San Diego and Los Angeles are not in the "same cluster" of cities. They are separated by 140 miles and several natural and man made barriers. Oakland, San Jose, San Francisco, yes they are all part of the same cluster of cities. You can drive from one to the other without leaving the same urban/suburban conglomeration, they share the same media market, etc... Not so with San Diego and Los Angeles. The more apt comparison is Philadelphia and New York. If Philly didn't have a team in the NHL for example would everyone in Philly naturally gravitate toward the Rangers? Possible. But then the Rangers also didn't move from Philadelphia either and in the process alienate, or downright piss off, just about everyone in Philadelphia on their way out of town.

[OnWis97]

31 minutes ago, bosrs1 said:

 

I think that's where you're not understanding the dynamics of Southern California. San Diego and Los Angeles are not in the "same cluster" of cities. They are separated by 140 miles and several natural and man made barriers. Oakland, San Jose, San Francisco, yes they are all part of the same cluster of cities. You can drive from one to the other without leaving the same urban/suburban conglomeration, they share the same media market, etc... Not so with San Diego and Los Angeles. The more apt comparison is Philadelphia and New York. If Philly didn't have a team in the NHL for example would everyone in Philly naturally gravitate toward the Rangers? Possible. But then the Rangers also didn't move from Philadelphia either and in the process alienate, or downright piss off, just about everyone in Philadelphia on their way out of town.

Do people in San Diego have a particular NBA or NHL team? I'd have guessed Lakers.  NHL, I'd have guessed "not enough interest." 

 

Just curious; not challenging you (I don't pretend to know the dynamic down there).

 

And I realize, even if Ferdinand's "always LA Chargers" scenario would lead to San Diego-based LA Chargers fans, it would be a team that never deserted the city, which is not the case with this pending move.

 

 

[leopard88]

1 hour ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

Each fan approaches things in his/her own way; and I understand that being a fan is more an emotional thing than a rational thing.
 

Nevetheless, I will say that it is not appropriate to compare a move from San Diego up to Los Angeles to a move from Montreal to Washington.  In the grand scheme of things, this Chargers move barely counts as a move at all, considering (as I mentioned ealier) that the team's games will still be on the same radio stations, and that the team will still be covered by the same local newspapers, sports radio stations, and other media.  If you're not attending the game, there will be no difference whatsoever.

Imagine that there had never been an NFL team in San Diego; imagine that the AFL's L.A. Chargers had stayed in Los Angeles through the life of the AFL and after the merger.  In that case, football fans in San Diego would have gravitated towards one of the L.A. teams, either the Chargers or the Rams, just as football fans living 100 miles away from Pittsburgh root for the Steelers, and football fans living 100 miles away from Chicago root for the Bears.

I get that San Diego and Los Angeles are separate cities.  So are Washington and Baltimore.  So are San Francisco and Oakland and San Jose.  But, when only one city in any given cluster has a team, it naturally becomes the team for the entire region.

So, just as the Bullets didn't really leave Baltimore by moving only as far as Washington, and just as the Warriors didn't really leave San Francisco by moving only as far as Oakland, and just as the 49ers didn't really leave San Francisco (and didn't even change their name) by moving only to a place just outside San Jose, the Chargers won't really have left San Diego by moving merely to Los Angeles.  So Chargers fans will have no reason to act as though they have lost their team.

 

I'm going to have to take issue with this one.  I was only about 5 when the move took place, so I can't really say from personal experience how it was received at the time.  However, even though he Bullets were only in Baltimore for 10 years and didn't develop the history that the Colts developed before moving to Indianapolis, I'm pretty sure everyone treated like a real move.  That is so despite the fact that it was a much shorter move than a move from San Diego to Los Angeles and Abe Pollin tried to treat Landover as some sort of middle ground.

 

My 15 year old son has become a Wizards fan in the past 2-3 years.  I know there are also a fair number of Wizards (and Capitals) fans in Baltimore.  However, I don't think there is any sense that the Wizards are a Baltimore team.

[bosrs1]

1 hour ago, OnWis97 said:

Do people in San Diego have a particular NBA or NHL team? I'd have guessed Lakers.  NHL, I'd have guessed "not enough interest." 

 

Just curious; not challenging you (I don't pretend to know the dynamic down there).

 

And I realize, even if Ferdinand's "always LA Chargers" scenario would lead to San Diego-based LA Chargers fans, it would be a team that never deserted the city, which is not the case with this pending move.

 

 

 

To answer the NBA question I'd say no team is the particular favorite. The Lakers would probably be the most popular among those that care at all about NBA (or the Warriors of late). But that's only because the Lakers are to the NBA what the Yankees are to MLB, ie: the universal most popular team in places that don't have teams, not due to proximity. But even they are largely a non-factor. They put a few games on local radio from time to time, but they're not covered much, if at all, in local media in San Diego other than the occasional preseason game they play in SD (and even that didn't start drawing fans until they brought in the Warriors as their opponent the last two years). The Clippers are on Fox Sports San Diego, but the next Clippers fan I see in San Diego will be the first. As I said earlier the only time I've heard the Clippers mentioned is to curse them out for having left despite it being 35 years since they did so. They're not covered in the media at all. The basketball fans and media in San Diego seem much more interested in the SDSU Aztecs than the NBA in general.

 

As for NHL from what I've seen there is no particular favorite. Hockey fans have seemed to glom on to the San Diego Gulls more than anything else in terms of a closer to consensus favorite in SD (they're the second most attended team in the AHL the last two years behind only stalwart Hershey).  But even among Gulls fans, the NHL teams they root for run the gamut. The Ducks are sometimes on Fox Sports San Diego like the Clippers. But despite having their affiliate in the Gulls and being used as filler on FSSD during the Padres off season they're no where near the most popular hockey team. I've seen as many Canucks fans, Sharks fans, Kings fans, Sabres fans, Penguins fans, OIlers fans, Flames fans... as Ducks fans. Hell I've even seen Thrashers and Whalers fans in San Diego. 

[leopard88]

9 minutes ago, OnWis97 said:

And I realize, even if Ferdinand's "always LA Chargers" scenario would lead to San Diego-based LA Chargers fans, it would be a team that never deserted the city, which is not the case with this pending move.

 

This is an interesting distinction.  As I mentioned above, I know a fair number of Wizards and Capitals fans in the Baltimore area.  However, I probably know many more Caps fans.

 

I don't know if that is simply a basketball vs. hockey thing.  My suspicion is that there may be some residual resentment toward the Bullets/Wizards for leaving Baltimore, though you have to be about 55 or older to have much memory of the move.

[rams80]

12 hours ago, Midway said:

I would like to see them rebrand for the sole reason of wanting to see what kind of crap they can come up with. 

 

After this year, I'm just tired of the "just want to see the world burn" sentiment.   It's not funny anymore.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

1 minute ago, leopard88 said:

As I mentioned above, I know a fair number of Wizards and Capitals fans in the Baltimore area.  However, I probably know many more Caps fans.

 

I don't know if that is simply a basketball vs. hockey thing.  My suspicion is that there may be some residual resentment toward the Bullets/Wizards for leaving Baltimore, though you have to be about 55 or older to have much memory of the move.

 

It's probably worth noting that the Wizards are actively reaching out to Baltimore by playing games there and by wearing Baltimore Bullets-style throwback uniforms.  They are positioning themselves as the team of choice for Baltimore fans.

Notwithstanding the feelings of the Chargers fans who have responded on this thread, the Chargers could conceivably retain plenty of fans in San Diego if they keep the same uniforms, and if they continue to advertise in San Diego after they move to Los Angeles.  (This, despite the cultural gap between the two cities and the resentment about the move that @bosrs1 mentions.) 

(And, while it's hard to imagine either New York or Philadelphia not having a team in a major sport, New York has only infrequently had teams in the Arena Football League and the NLL.  In those cases, I as a New Yorker did indeed feel that the Philadelphia teams more-or-less count as my "home" teams.)

[bosrs1]

3 minutes ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

It's probably worth noting that the Wizards are actively reaching out to Baltimore by playing games there and by wearing Baltimore Bullets-style throwback uniforms.  They are positioning themselves as the team of choice for Baltimore fans.

Notwithstanding the feelings of the Chargers fans who have responded on this thread, the Chargers could conceivably retain plenty of fans in San Diego if they keep the same uniforms, and if they continue to advertise in San Diego after they move to Los Angeles.  (This, despite the cultural gap between the two cities and the resentment about the move that @bosrs1 mentions.) 

(And, while it's hard to imagine either New York or Philadelphia not having a team in a major sport, New York has only infrequently had teams in the Arena Football League and the NLL.  In those cases, I as a New Yorker did indeed feel that the Philadelphia teams more-or-less count as my "home" teams.)

 

But did any of those teams move away and actively destroy the New York fan base before they moved away

 

Never underestimate the damage a team's scorched earth policy will leave in it's wake. For how San Diego will feel toward the Chargers next season look at Houston vis-a-vis the Oilers, Baltimore vis-a-vis the Colts, etc... Doesn't matter that the distances are shorter, it's the same result. That's why the Chargers are exploring rebranding. They understand they've lost San Diego with or without the Chargers brand when they relocate next month. Keeping the brand does them very little in the way of favors in terms of retaining any San Diego fans and does little to help them in LA.

[dont care]

I don't know if San Diego can feel too scorned when The chargers have done just about everything they could to stay in San Diego for them to vote it down repeatedly until they finally have to move somewhere else and even then it's only to the next closest city that will take them.