It’s no secret the Los Angeles Chargers are struggling, to put it nicely, to not only fill their tiny stadium but keep opposing fan bases from crashing the party every week. During the team’s devastating two-point loss to the Philadelphia Eagles — its third loss this year already by three points or less — Chargers fans were few and far between.
Malcolm Jenkins says in his 9 years in the NFL he really hasnt seen anything quite like #Eagles🦅 fans taking over today pic.twitter.com/xawQSJx6L3
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) October 2, 2017
“Nauseating. Everybody knows we’re not wanted here. LA doesn’t want the Chargers.’’
– Charger fan on Eagles fans taking over StubHub Center pic.twitter.com/7kGRCZf0ns— Corner Pub Sports (@CornerPubSports) October 2, 2017
The Chargers’ move to Los Angeles has been met with some fierce resistance, including a well-positioned billboard taking aim at the team. Just this weekend, we saw tarps covering some of the upper-level seats at StubHub Stadium, which only seats 30,000 to begin with.
Not all the seats are getting filled, and the seats that are filled with people are more often not featuring jerseys and hats from the opposing teams. So it’s not all that surprising to hear Chargers players are getting fed up with having no fan support.
“Sixteen away-game season! Every game’s an away game!”
Those words were reportedly heard ringing from Los Angeles’ locker room after Sunday’s loss to the Eagles, per Jack Wang of The Orange County Register.
“It’s sad when you’re home and it feels like it’s away,” said running back Melvin Gordon. “When you’re 0-4, what can you expect?”
If the Chargers continue to lose, things will get worse, not better. Opposing fan bases crashing the party at Chargers games is nothing new. It happened last year in San Diego, too. But now that the team has left its home city for another that doesn’t seem to want it, we’re betting it’s going to be a long time before the Chargers play in front of thousands of their own adoring fans.