San Diego Chargers owner Dean Spanos announced today that he is moving the Chargers to Los Angeles, ending their 55 year run in San Diego. 

By John Sarianides

The San Diego Chargers are no more. Owner Dean Spanos announced today that the team is moving to Los Angeles after submitting their relocation letter to the NFL and its owners.

After a sixteen year battle to get a new stadium built in San Diego, Spanos is giving up and packing up. The move to Los Angeles is not a surprise, in fact it has been in the works now for over a year. Spanos wanted to keep the team in San Diego, but when a ballot referendum failed in November by a substantial margin, Spanos was left with no choice but to move the team.

Spanos didn’t want to move the team but it became blatantly apparent, that the city was not willing to use taxpayer dollars to help finance a new stadium. Despite being loyal fans of the team, the people of San Diego weren’t willing to spend more of their own money to keep the team in town.

Last summer, myself and my wife visited San Diego and attended a Padres game. We asked fans at the game if they wanted the Chargers to stay and to a man, they all said that they were sick of the Spanos family holding the city hostage and that they didn’t care if they moved the team.

That says it all in a nutshell. The people of San Diego were not prepared to fork over the necessary funds to build a new facility to keep the team. Many people felt that the city did its part to finance Petco Park and that was enough.

I can see where the people of San Diego are coming from to a certain extent. Spanos is worth $2 billion dollars. He should be able to pay for his own stadium. Overcoming that sentiment was very difficult for Spanos. He just couldn’t convince the people of San Diego that he didn’t have enough money to build a new stadium.

 In Spanos’ defense however, he was in a tough spot. He wanted to stay in San Diego. He didn’t want to move to Los Angeles because he knows that Los Angeles is not a viable alternative. He had no choice. Where else was he going to go? Albuquerque?

I partially blame Roger Goodell and the other owners for the Chargers moving. They are driven by greed and this insatiable desire to have two teams in Los Angeles. The notion of two teams in L.A is ridiculous, especially when you consider the fact that the city has a notorious history of not supporting teams. I get the big market appeal but the Chargers and Rams will struggle to co-exist in L.A.

The Chargers announced that they will be playing their home games at Stub Hub Stadium next season, which is the home of the L.A Galaxy. The stadium only seats about 30,000 people so needless to say, the Chargers will be losing money on the deal.

I hope all parties involved are happy. The Chargers are gone. They have gone to Los Angeles to start a new life. It won’t be easy and if history has taught us anything, it won’t be long term either. Inevitably, the Chargers will probably leave again, just like the Rams and Raiders did in 1995. The move is to L.A is DUMB! PERIOD!

Now all eyes are on the Raiders. You’re up Mark Davis! It is your turn to leave town. Can you say VIVA!!!! Las Vegas?