"Lost" Angeles: How The NFL Blew A Big Opportunity In LA
Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
So, the Chargers have gone out to Los Angeles to join the Rams and the Raiders are likely Sin City bound (probably not until 2020). This will mark the third team in the last few years to change zip codes in a big way, after a 20 year run of having teams stay put (last one was Houston to Tennessee in 1997). So, this pretty much marks the end for possible teams being relocated (though Goodell is toying with an idea of putting an NFL team to London, but I honestly don't think that will pull much, but who am I to predict what happens?).
Had Los Angeles gotten their mess together, they would have been the 32nd NFL team, not the Texans.
Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
But honestly, how the NFL has handled this mess last year and this year with the Rams, Chargers, and Raiders is nothing short of a cluster....something. For years, they have pushed for Los Angeles to get a team. Art Modell had a deal with Baltimore pretty much right away so the Browns weren't moving out there in 1995. Bud Adams figured the Southeast wasn't having much in the way of success with the teams in the Nashville/Memphis radius (the Falcons, Saints, Panthers, Colts, Bengals, and the Rams were all meh at the time) so it was a good decision to see if they can tap into that area. The NFL wasn't going to screw Cleveland any worse, so they gave them an expansion Browns team, which is still trying to get out of that moniker after 17 seasons. They tried getting team #32 to Los Angeles, but the city could not get their garbage together so they opted to give Houston a second chance.
So since 2002, the NFL has tried to find any way of taking a team back to Los Angeles. Teams included of a possible move were the Falcons, Bills, Colts, Jaguars, Dolphins, Vikings, Raiders, Rams, and Chargers (I'm probably missing a few other teams, but those I remember offhand). But either the teams got new stadium deals (Falcons, Colts, Vikings), had upgrades (Jaguars, Dolphins), or promised to keep the team in the city (Bills). In the end, three teams got Roger Goodell's mouth watering at regaining the second largest market in the country for NFL football.
In the end, it was a disaster of how things went.
The funny part is, the disaster was finished off by the Raiders.
Don't get me wrong. I think Oakland going to Las Vegas was not a bad move by the Raiders. But I put the Raiders as the Mount Rushmore of NFL cult followings, alongside the Packers, Steelers, and Cowboys. In the sense of you can put the team anywhere, and they will have a strong fan base, even if they are terrible. And honestly, after visiting O.co Coliseum 2 years ago for an A's game, I'm in agreement the Raiders need a better venue because that place is rough. So moving to Vegas, while I am not sold to the idea of an NHL team there, it does seem like a better fit for the NFL, and especially of one that is the Raiders.
However, let's face it: the Raiders have been LA's team.
Marcus Allen helped establish the Raiders in Los Angeles
I know the Raiders did not start out in Los Angeles, but they had great success and even won a Super Bowl while residing in the town. There was an identity to the franchise while the Raiders were there. While the Raiders did struggle, people still associated them with Los Angeles and it gained a popularity spike when Bo Jackson arrived in LA to play for the Raiders. Bo, being the first successful 2-sport star, gained a lot of love from the media and everywhere you went fans wore Raiders gear. Of course, some had to do with the storied history. Also, add the fact the city's other team, the Rams, were not really winning the hearts of many with inconsistent seasons.
It seemed like after the 1994 season, Los Angeles was not only resigned to the fact of the Rams leaving for St. Louis, but had more of a "don't let the door hit you" mentality. The Raiders however, felt like a different story. It just seemed like it became Los Angeles's team. So when the NFL was trying to get a team to Los Angeles, it seemed like the fans were getting their hopes up for one team: not the Rams. Not the Chargers. The Raiders. So when the Rams announced they were coming back to Los Angeles, while the fans seemed content with it, they were still waiting on the Raiders to make their triumphant return.
And then after the season ended, it was the Chargers.
This is how I compare it to: You're that high school boy who dated a sweetheart, who was also the homecoming queen for a good while, and you two were the greatest thing since sliced bread. She was your soul mate. Then she dumped you for her old boyfriend who wasn't necessarily the greatest in the world. Then you noticed she was going to dump her boyfriend, and the rumors persisted she was going back to you for prom as it was a match made in heaven. Until the break-up occurred, you went back to dating another ex-girlfriend and who you had a good history with as well, but it was never the same. But it was plan B. And then instead of getting back with your dream girl, you are now stuck with another girl who you had a one night fling with and that nobody wants and honestly, she doesn't want to be with you either. That's how I think Los Angeles fans feel at this point. So you got two girls that you don't care to have while the one you REALLY want could have had is going to be down the road with a flashy new rich kid.
Well, the Chargers make a return to Los Angeles 56 years in the making.........but I don't think anybody was heartbroken when they left....
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
What really gets me with all this mess was how the NFL handled the Chargers situation. I think we can all agree Kroenke was plotting his exit to Los Angeles for years while running the team in St. Louis, so okay. Whatever. The Rams have gotten into LA. They just haven't been relevant since Warner/Faulk/Bruce/Holt wore the golden horns. End of story with them. But with the Chargers, Dean Spanos tried time after time to get a new stadium as Qualcomm Stadium was just as awful as O.co Coliseum according to fans who went to both venues. And he tried to foot the bill on the city. Didn't work. And the city more or less didn't want them. However, while not really defending Spanos, but it seemed like the NFL PUSHED him to run to Los Angeles. I heard rumors of how the owners would help Spanos keep the team in San Diego and Goodell himself was disappointed by the decision to take the Chargers out of San Diego, but look, you bet somewhere Goodell is smiling, getting his wish of 2 teams in the Los Angeles market, like there was in 1994.
So now the Rams and Chargers inherit the City of Angels while the Raiders are not going to anytime in the near future. What is going to be very interesting to see is if the Chargers can or cannot sell out a 30,000 seat soccer stadium in the next two seasons. However, right now the Los Angeles fans are already making their voice heard of not wanting the Chargers, using billboard signs and then being booed at a Lakers/Clippers game in the Staples Center. Well, there you go. Already trouble.
I have only been out to Los Angeles once and I do think the fans get a very bad rap. I do think they're loyal to their teams and I do think they are happy football is back. But they wanted the RAIDERS. That is the team the fans most identify with. They did not want a team like the Chargers on a few instances of having it be in a town where a fan base has rivals with your team. They did not want a team who is on free-fall mode, that is already going on with the Rams. And while there may be Charger fans in the area, it is probably not going to be overwhelming like they would have gotten from the Raider fans.
If the Chargers can't pack THIS place, then this is an epic fail by the NFL.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
We also noticed that the Rams fans weren't packing it in the Coliseum the last couple of games given the Rams were bad, but what if San Diego falls to 4-12. What will happen to the attendance when it is going under 30,000 at the Stubhub Center? It will be a huge black eye for the NFL and it will show that the NFL is lost when it comes to Los Angeles.
-Fan in the Obstructed Seat
