The most shocking headline you'll see all year.

[Direckshun]

http://deadspin.com/los-angeles-does...ers-1818503650

Los Angeles Doesn't Care About The Chargers
Barry Petchesky
Yesterday 9:07am

Sunday saw the return of the Los Angeles Chargers, their first home game since 1960, and no one’s very excited about it.

New and relocated teams usually get a first-year attendance bump, just from the novelty. The Chargers are a good team with an offense that’s fun to watch. Their temporary home, a soccer-specific stadium, is intimate and unique. There are plenty of reasons the Chargers might draw a good crowd. None of those reasons, apparently, are enough to overcome the hard realties of deep, deep disinterest:

Opening kickoff crowd for @chargers game today - this can't be blamed on the weather pic.twitter.com/aKrXr9Bmiq

— Matt Baylow (@MattBaylow) September 18, 2017

A stadium that seats 27,000 couldn’t sell out, drawing an officially (generously) announced crowd of 25,381 for a 19-17 loss to the Dolphins. Making that attendance figure even sadder is that half of paying fans weren’t there to see the Chargers. “There were a lot of Miami fans out there,” Melvin Gordon said. “I think it was around 50-50.”

Including, perhaps, the person in charge of setting off the cannon after Chargers scores. Listen for the boom as Younghoe Koo missed a 44-yarder that would’ve won the game:

Younghoe Koo misses his try for the winning kick... Dolphins win.

Final:
LA - 17
Miami - 19#Chargers #Dolphins #Stubhub pic.twitter.com/fj0qepZJZW

— Rich Ohrnberger (@ohrnberger) September 17, 2017

You’ll also hear a lot of cheers in that video. Those are the Dolphins fans, and they confused Philip Rivers all afternoon:

“I heard the roar before I saw the official’s signal,” Rivers said. “I wasn’t sure which roar it was.”

Well, and why not? The Chargers have done everything in their power to alienate their old fan base (a plane towed a banner over the stadium calling Dean Spanos the worst owner in sports), and little to cultivate a new fan base. They fled San Diego three full seasons before their new stadium will be ready, and in the meantime they’re charging $100 for parking. They’re already second fiddle in their new city, a subordination that will be even more marked once they move in with the Rams. Philip Rivers said the team needs to win and it’ll see better attendance, but Los Angeles isn’t exactly tabula rasa for fandom. There are a lot of people from all over, with their own rooting interests, and a strong strain of Raiders fandom runs through the city, and any fans excited for a new team probably jumped aboard with the Rams last year. In short, it is difficult to picture a combination of circumstances and sensibilities that would lead a person to becoming a Los Angeles Chargers fan.

Let’s be clear: None of this is an indictment of those Chargers fans that exist or of Angelenos. You’re under no obligations to go to games, and considering how much better television is than the live NFL experience, the incentives are already slim. The NFL is a business, and if people aren’t consuming a product, that’s a sign of a failure of the company to offer a product people want to consume. And, potentially, a fatal misread of the market. Could it be possible, after the NFL spent decades using Los Angeles as a threat to strong-arm cities into building stadiums to keep their teams, that Los Angeles didn’t actually want its own team, let alone two? It’s still very early, but:

Kickoff at the Coliseum between the Rams and Redskins. Not many here to see it. pic.twitter.com/XAwandU2l6

— Lindsey Thiry (@LindseyThiry) September 17, 2017

[O.city]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

That's why Kroenke is building a $3 billion dollar complex that will not only house the NFL Network, host NFL drafts, Super Bowls, the Olympics, Final Fours and so much more but it will be a destination, with swimming pools and high end retailers and restaurants.

People will flock to the stadium, just for the experience and if the Rams happen to be good, they'll get plenty of support.

The Chargers?

Yeah if the rams are good the place will be packed

The chargers just never made sense.

I kind of agree with DJ that Canada makes sense

[ModSocks]

Originally Posted by O.city

Yeah if the rams are good the place will be packed

The chargers just never made sense.

I kind of agree with DJ that Canada makes sense

Toronto makes sense for the Bills. Chargers not so much unless they completely re-brand.

[Discuss Thrower]

Too bad Canada doesn't care about the NFL.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

Toronto makes sense for the Bills. Chargers not so much unless they completely re-brand.

Then what else are they gonna do?

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by O.city

Yeah if the rams are good the place will be packed

The chargers just never made sense.

I kind of agree with DJ that Canada makes sense

Will it? I mean, did the Rams pack the house before in LA when they were competitive?

Are people going to battle their way across LA through traffic and everything else, to pay prices to attend games that will surely be above Jerry's World prices, because there's a campus around it which hosts the NFL network? And this will need to support two teams?

I mean, call me crazy I suppose, but it seems like franchises are powered by fans who feel loyalty to a football team and support it through thick and thin. Not because the team is good but because it's a passion.

Are people going to be passionate about the "gameday experience"? Are they going to keep coming back over and over to pay (exorbitant prices) at the great bars and restaurants in the stadium?

Does the League think the fan base has infinite resources and will pay for anything they put out? Any add on, any upsell or upcharge?

Do they think rank and file fans care about uber-luxury experiences or do they just want to see good football at a price they think is fair?

I don't think history is going to bear this out.

I don't think amenities drive attendance, football does.

I don't think "gameday experience' means anything when the team is terrible or when the city has no attachment to it.

I don't think fans cheer for owners like Spanos or Kroenke who regard the fan base with contempt. I don't think these teams are going to have an easy time building attachment from football fans in the city, many of whom already have a team.

Maybe I am wrong - maybe just being in LA is enough to keep a team profitable. Maybe they will suck enough corporate dollars out of the city and sell enough suits and advertising that the gate receipts won't matter that much. You watch LA Kings games on TV and unless the team is near the top of the conference, the lower level looks about 2/3 full. Who knows.

I just don't buy into the idea that this "district" is going to drive attendance, especially for two teams, because the football fans that keep franchises going don't want to go to Disneyland. They just want to watch football.

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

Too bad Canada doesn't care about the NFL.

Everyone I know there who's marginally a sports fan watches at least some NFL. There's just no team for them to unify behind, the way they do for the Blue Jays. (Even people out on the prairies see the Blue Jays as 'their' team.)

For the NFL, you have a smattering of random, usually northern teams, or just "I'm a fan of the NFL"

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Cochise

Will it? I mean, did the Rams pack the house before in LA when they were competitive?

The Rams were soldout for nearly 30 years straight when they played at the Coliseum.

Georgia unexpectedly moved the team from Los Angeles to Anaheim, which is basically like moving the Chiefs to St. Louis.

Plus, a new Light Rail line will be available soon, which will have a station near Kroenke World and the home of the Clippers, which is slated to be across the street.

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Los Angeles Doesn't Care About The Chargers

I'm guessing this was ****ing Irony...

[DaneMcCloud]

http://thebiglead.com/2017/09/20/sis...source=twitter

SI's Lee Jenkins: Spanos Family, Chargers Couldn't Have Imagined This Level Of Anger, Ridicule
By: Ryan Phillips

Lee Jenkins joined the Darren Smith Show on 1090 AM in San Diego on Wednesday and went off on the Los Angeles Chargers and their owner, Dean Spanos. Jenkins is Sports Illustrated’s senior NBA writer, but he’s a native of San Diego and has been a long-time critic of the Chargers. That didn’t change during this interview.

Jenkins claims the Spanos family did not expect this level of anger from San Diego fans or this level of national public humiliation from the Chargers move. He also discussed the NFL’s reaction and how he believes other owners will soon be throwing Spanos under the bus as things get worse in LA. The Spanoses did this to themselves. Absolutely no one outside of that family and its inner circle thought moving to Los Angeles was a wise decision. Now the franchise is a national laughingstock and it’s only getting worse.

In a city and surrounding area of 18.1 million people, the Chargers couldn’t find enough of their own fans to fill a tiny soccer stadium in their first week in a new home. At least half of the fans in the crowd in Week 2 were cheering for the Miami Dolphins, a team whose fanbase doesn’t travel particularly well. This weekend the Chargers welcome the Kansas City Chiefs to town. The Chiefs have a rabid fanbase who could wind up outnumbering Chargers fans in their own stadium. Expect to see a lot of red on Sunday in that crowd. And expect things to keep getting worse for Spanos and co. in Los Angeles.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Cochise

Will it? I mean, did the Rams pack the house before in LA when they were competitive?

Are people going to battle their way across LA through traffic and everything else, to pay prices to attend games that will surely be above Jerry's World prices, because there's a campus around it which hosts the NFL network? And this will need to support two teams?

I mean, call me crazy I suppose, but it seems like franchises are powered by fans who feel loyalty to a football team and support it through thick and thin. Not because the team is good but because it's a passion.

Are people going to be passionate about the "gameday experience"? Are they going to keep coming back over and over to pay (exorbitant prices) at the great bars and restaurants in the stadium?

Does the League think the fan base has infinite resources and will pay for anything they put out? Any add on, any upsell or upcharge?

Do they think rank and file fans care about uber-luxury experiences or do they just want to see good football at a price they think is fair?

I don't think history is going to bear this out.

I don't think amenities drive attendance, football does.

I don't think "gameday experience' means anything when the team is terrible or when the city has no attachment to it.

I don't think fans cheer for owners like Spanos or Kroenke who regard the fan base with contempt. I don't think these teams are going to have an easy time building attachment from football fans in the city, many of whom already have a team.

Maybe I am wrong - maybe just being in LA is enough to keep a team profitable. Maybe they will suck enough corporate dollars out of the city and sell enough suits and advertising that the gate receipts won't matter that much. You watch LA Kings games on TV and unless the team is near the top of the conference, the lower level looks about 2/3 full. Who knows.

I just don't buy into the idea that this "district" is going to drive attendance, especially for two teams, because the football fans that keep franchises going don't want to go to Disneyland. They just want to watch football.

If they're winning and exciting, I think people will show up.

If they don't, they won't.

[tredadda]

Originally Posted by Cochise

Everyone I know there who's marginally a sports fan watches at least some NFL. There's just no team for them to unify behind, the way they do for the Blue Jays. (Even people out on the prairies see the Blue Jays as 'their' team.)

For the NFL, you have a smattering of random, usually northern teams, or just "I'm a fan of the NFL"

The Blue Jays also get away with that because there is no professional baseball league in a Canada sans the one MLB team. Canada has the CFL and while it's a lesser product, its still their product.

[DaneMcCloud]

[DaneMcCloud]

The Athletic’s Don Banks joined the Darren Smith Show on 1090 AM in San Diego on Thursday to discuss the disastrous Los Angeles Chargers. This week, Banks wrote a piece about how quickly things have gone south for Dean Spanos and his team in LA and during the interview he went ever further. Banks even suggested the NFL is quietly talking about forcing the team back to San Diego. Banks has talked to a number of people inside the league and when asked what they think of Spanos, his response was telling:

“I have been painted a picture from people I’ve talked to that the league was sympathetic…to Dean Spanos’ plight. Feels like he had been a ‘league guy’ feels like he had waited kind of his turn on the relocation front, thought he had the votes the year before — Jerry Jones and Stan Kroenke pretty much outmaneuvered Dean and Mark Davis with the Raiders to be the first in line for LA. So it was almost as if this was a bit of a make up.

“I can tell you this Darren, there are people in the league — including the commissioner — they did not want to see San Diego forsaken. They would rather there be a team in San Diego. If there’s anything viable that they could find to put the league back in to San Diego, I think they will be in that camp strongly.”

When discussing the optics of empty stadiums and the Chargers not being able to fill a 27,000-seat stadium with their own fans, Banks had this to say:

“They’re saying the right things now and they’re going to keep a stiff upper lip and say that ‘we knew that this was going to be a hard slog uphill.’ There’s a lot of concern already. And there’s a lot of people who are thinking, ‘How can we put up with these optics for the next three years if the Chargers can’t improve the situation in Carson?'”

When asked if he believed the league was possibly talking about forcing the Chargers back to San Diego if things don’t improve, Banks was blunt:

“I think they’re talking about it. I do. I think there’s already a level of concern at how far south it’s gone, that there are at least people talking about it…I don’t think a true tipping point has been reached, it’s too early for that. But I think there’s enough concern that people are saying, ‘What’s the best option perhaps among bad options?'”

The fact that we’re heading into Week 3 of the regular season and people around the league are already talking about moving the Chargers back to San Diego is simply incredible.