So, the owner is claiming he really badly wanted to stay but the city gave him no choice, even though all they actually did was turn down a really one-sided offer from the Chargers (already having free land available for the new stadium worth $200 million, he asked for $1,200 million more in subsidies from the city) when there were a lot of better compromises available. And so now he's moving to a city that doesn't want the team to come, sharing a stadium with another new owner who didn't really want to share it. The Lakers played the Clippers a couple of days ago and both fanbases heartily booed the LA Chargers. BTW, Oakland and Saint Louis are both still paying debts on the deals they made 21 years ago when a pair of NFL teams left Los Angeles.
This is a classic case of a shakedown, similar to the way the NBA handled negotiations with the Seattle Supersonics. Essentially the owner says "I want to stay" then proceeds to shoot down all realistic public options. In the end, the only workable options were unrealistic. In the Sonics case, the OKC ownership wanted a stadium in a location that wasn't available, a deal that made them the lone tenant with all rights to revenues and weren't willing to kick in any money. When the voters said "NO" the owners claim they weren't wanted but the reality is they wanted a deal the voters would be stupid to offer.
No public entity should contribute to the lining the NFL's pockets. If an owner needs money to fund a stadium get it from the NFL or enter into a commercial transaction with money people.
I don't mind if there is a mix of private/public participation. When the Seahawks built CenturyLink Field the pricetag was $350M. Paul Allen picked up $150M and agreed to cover any overages. It worked well.
Except for the visitors to Seattle who are footing the bill through the hotel and rental car tax. What happens if the bonds supported by the tax default? Hello public rescue? I know everyone does it this way, and I can see it for non-major league (NBA, NHL, NFL and MLB) stadiums/arenas. However, the major leagues or commercial lenders should be non-owner financiers for their stadiums/arena's.
Very tough call. I live in SoCal so I hate to see it happen. In a sense I cannot blame the owner though because he has a valuable commodity, and the right to attempt to maximize his profits. In a free market society, should he be constrained? I think not. Now, I hate to see the Chargers leave SD, 65 miles from my home. It's sad. And I could care less about the new venue and have no interest in going. Had SD put a decent product on the field recently, my guess is that the ballot issue might well have passed. But frankly they have been a pathetic disappointment for many years running, even with supposedly one of the best QBs in the game. I can't blame the locals for not stepping up financially. As Cleveland did, the city of San Diego should lobby the NFL to make the Spanos family surrender the name Chargers and also force a color scheme change. The name, colors and logo are property that should be retained by the city of SD. That's what I would attempt to do if I were running the city.
Chargers should not be allowed to move to LA. The Rams belong there, they are back home. Chargers should go to Vegas. Change team name to Rollers or Escorts or One-Armed Bandits.
and that kind of hints what the foundation of these kinds of deals are. In a true free market there would be many, many teams, and many, many cities all competing on each end of offers and counter offers. When ONE team makes an ultimatum to ONE city, that's not a free market. At least not what I learned in ECO 301.
For 2017 and 2018, they will be playing in a soccer stadium that seats 27,000, about half the size of the smallest present NFL stadium. I wonder if they'll be able to fill it.
In 2016 San Diego was 31st out of 32 teams in average attendance at 57k per home game. Even if there is little interest in LA I would think they can fill a 27k stadium.
Will vuvuzelas be allowed at NFL games? Field GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!
