Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers just moved into a new city and conventional wisdom says building a fan base won’t be easy. They’re already not a good team — the Chargers went 5-11 during their last year in San Diego and fired head coach Mike McCoy. Quarterback Philip Rivers is 35 and, of the entire 53-man roster, you’d be hard-pressed to find more than five players who will likely be starting in three years (here’s what my list looks like: Joey Bosa, Hunter Henry…maybe Craig Mager, Jason Verrrett, Melvin Gordon, Denzel Perryman and/or Keenan Allen).
There simply isn’t enough talent on this team to compete in the near future or in the long term. The only argument against tanking is that the Chargers have to build up a fan base in Los Angeles. However, the amount of people who will pay to see a 6-10 team isn’t all too different from the amount of people who will pay to see a 2-14 team.
What matters when it comes to building a fan base is how successful you can be in the shortest amount of time. The fact is that with Rivers at 35, the Chargers aren’t going to be good for a long time no matter what. After he retires, the team is going to bottom out anyway, so why not accelerate the process? Be bad when Bosa is 22 so that you can compete when he’s 26 and wreak havoc on the league.