(excerpts from article) But an even bigger game is unfolding in the upstairs ownership offices as both team must soon decide whether to stick it out in their current cities or bolt to Los Angeles. And with Chargers owner Dean Spanos taking refuge in his team’s locker room while waiting out the traffic jam outside the stadium just as Raiders owner Mark Davis finally made it to the ground floor to visit his team, it was impossible not to recognize the similarities they share. “It’s 13 years, so it’s been a long time,” Spanos said wearily when asked about his futile fight to work out a deal with San Diego officials on a new stadium “It is frustrating, when you have seven different mayors over a 10-year period of time and the political structure has struggled here and the economy hasn’t been great. All those factors lead into it.” Not far away, Davis offered equal measures of hope and frustration about striking a deal in the Bay Area to build a new stadium for the Raiders. “We’re trying to get something done in Oakland, and that’s really where we’re at right now,” said Davis, whose lease at the O.co Coliseum concludes after this season. When asked if that was likely, he tilted his head a bit and smiled sheepishly. “Nothing is likely in life,” he sighed. “You take it one day at a time.” There is growing indication the NFL wants two teams to eventually move to Los Angeles. And Davis isn’t shy about admitting the Raiders could be one of them. “Los Angeles is a great option.” Davis said. An option for the Raiders? “Absolutely,” he said. And just to be clear, he added: “Sure. We loved it when we were down here.” And so might the Chargers, who actually played their first season at the Coliseum in 1960. “We’re looking into all our possibilities, all our options,” Spanos said. Does that mean potentially re-locating to Los Angeles? “I’m just keeping all my options open,” Spanos said. But there is a timing issue going on. Simple math suggests three teams can’t squeeze into the NFL’s two-team L.A. model. And while no one wants to be the bad guy who moved his team to another city, you also don’t want to be the guy holding the bag without a new stadium and without Los Angeles to use as leverage to prod city leaders to get on the ball. “We’re keeping a close eye on it,” Spanos said. “As you know, 25 or 30 percent of our business comes from Orange County, Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, so another team going there would have a huge negative economic impact on us and our situation.”
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 05:24:14 +0000
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