The long expected move has happened as the San Diego Chargers have officially filed the paperwork for relocation to Los Angeles. The hope is to begin play in LA next season.
The announcement came directly via the team in the form of a video on their website. In the video (audio is available below), Chairman of the Board Dean Spanos discussed, in full, about the decision and what it ultimately comes down to.
“I just want to say that this has been, probably, the single most difficult decision that I’ve ever made, that my family’s ever made, in business,” he Spanos stated. “I promise you, it wasn’t an easy decision to come to.”
Spanos stated that it was difficult to file the paperwork because of spending the last 31 years of his life in San Diego. He mentions that he has friends in the area, but, ultimately, an agreement on a new stadium just couldn’t be reached.
“It’s been 14 years we’ve been working very hard to get something done here,” he said. “We’ve had nine different proposals that we’ve made, all of them basically rejected by the city.”
He was clear to say that the filing has nothing to do with the fans, but more-so the fact that they didn’t want to lose out on a share of the LA market to another team in addition to the stadium issues.
Now that the paperwork has been submitted, the final decision is left up to an owners vote. An official vote is scheduled for this month, and the Chargers need at least 24 votes to approve the move.
It may be an expected move, but it’s certainly a sad day for the fans of San Diego. As someone from a city — Buffalo — where relocation was always hanging over the franchises of the city, I can only empathize with the feelings running through your head.
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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA TODAY Sports
