By now it’s pretty evident that San Diego Chargers owner Dean Spanos is looking to do everything possible to keep either the St. Louis Rams or Oakland Raiders from moving back to Los Angeles.
On the heels of strong suggestions that Rams owner Stan Kroenke is prepared to uproot his team from the midwest, it appears that Spanos and the Chargers may be willing to take the franchise to court.
Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Journal cited an unnamed source within the Chargers organization indicating that some owners may question the Rams potential return to Los Angeles because they left the Southern California market voluntarily some 20 years ago.
That unnamed official also pointed to two stadium issues in the California as another reason owners might take issue with a Rams relocation. Both the Chargers home and the Oakland Coliseum up north are considered two of the worst stadiums in the National Football League.
Kroenke would need just 24 teams to vote in favor of a move in order for him to be able to relocate the team with the league’s blessing. And even if that doesn’t happen, he’s reportedly okay with defying the rest of the league and moving without approval.
Plans are already in motion to build a state-of-the-art stadium in Inglewood. In partnership with Stockbridge Capital Group, which owns a 238-acre location in Hollywood Park, the Rams owner has already started planning for a new complex in L.A. This could set in motion an interesting legal situation under United States antitrust laws, as indicated by Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio.
No one ever said that a move to Los Angeles would be easy for any team around the NFL. There’s a reason that world’s second-largest media market has been without a team for two decades. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out.
Photo: Chargers.com