Dive Brief:
- Despite a January NFL owners vote allowing the San Diego Chargers to start calling Los Angeles home next year, Chargers owner Dean Spanos said the team will stay in San Diego for at least one more year while the team and the city try to hammer out a deal for a new stadium, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
- The Chargers have already started preliminary work on a possible ballot initiative to build a new stadium in San Diego. Local officials have proposed a $1.1 billion project on a Mission Valley site that would include $200 million from the city, $150 million from the county, a $300 million loan from the NFL, $362.5 million from the Chargers and $187.5 million from seat licenses.
- Spanos said that if a stadium plan does not materialize, he has worked out a deal with the Rams, which will allow the team’s relocation to Los Angeles, ESPN reported.
Dive Insight:
The Chargers must exercise the option to join the Rams in Los Angeles by January 2017, failing an extension contingent on the outcome of a public referendum on stadium financing.
The Chargers organization is in somewhat of a win-win situation. If they move to Los Angeles, their NFL- brokered deal would see them share the new Inglewood stadium Rams owner Stan Kroenke is building.
The nearly $3 billion stadium complex is projected to bring 22,000 construction jobs to the area over the next six to seven years. In exchange for $1 annual rent and contribution of their $200 million NFL loan to construction costs, the Chargers would become a revenue-sharing tenant in the state-of-the-art venue.
On the other hand, if Spanos gets a new stadium in San Diego, the team will be able to enjoy its long-time fan base in a brand new facility.
