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Post by thegreenmeanie on Jan 27, 2009 13:20:45 GMT -5
www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-super-bowl-raiders27-2009jan27,0,1620166.column The Chargers, whose stadium arrangement in San Diego makes them the team best positioned to move here, have hired an L.A. marketing firm. Of course, it could all be just another tease.
While the league is kicking around the notion of playing the 50th Super Bowl in L.A. -- where the first one took place -- the onetime L.A. Chargers appear to be inching closer to a possible return to their birthplace.
As is always the case with the on-again, off-again saga of the NFL's flirtation with the nation's second-largest market, nothing is written in stone. In fact, it's more like murky skywriting, completely at the mercy of the fickle winds of change.
But more smoke signals came Monday when the Chargers signed a deal with Los Angeles-based Wasserman Media Group to market the franchise in L.A. and Orange County, a development that surely will be viewed by some as greasing the skids for a move north. There hasn't been a team in the L.A. area since the Raiders and Rams left after the 1994 season.
"The bottom line is Los Angeles and Orange County are two of the most lucrative markets in the world," said Mark Fabiani, the team's point man on stadium issues. "There's no NFL team in those markets, and there's no reason the Chargers can't pursue those areas in these difficult economic times."
Possible motivations aside, this much is clear: The Chargers, who have been working on a San Diego stadium solution for seven years and so far have been unsuccessful, are better positioned to move than any other NFL team.I honestly always thought it was going to be the Chargers or the 49'ers ending up in L.A. A lot of people over the years have scared me about the possibility of the Vikings moving there, but when it was clear S.D. was having trouble with a stadium I always though a homecoming sounded like it was inevitable. Of course, like the article says, this could just be more smoke. We do know that the NFL would love to have a team in L.A. though. It will happen again eventually.
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Post by nick20 on Jan 27, 2009 13:42:37 GMT -5
eh,.. They had the Rams there for years...and the Coliseum is a dump now.. They'd have to build a new stadium, which will cost mucho dinero, and we're in a bad recession right now, and California is facing a defecit over $40 billion...
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Post by badgernation on Jan 27, 2009 13:42:56 GMT -5
I could see the Chargers in LA..... But I still believe that it will be the Vikings in LA.
I have also seen talk of a New York type setup for the Raiders and Niners sharing a stadium....
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WhatUSaid
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Post by WhatUSaid on Jan 27, 2009 14:45:28 GMT -5
I would hate to see San Diego lose the bolts. I've been to a few games out there and the fans are great. The stadium is old, but it's more than serviceable. I went on a tour of the facility, it's no metrodump. I think the only way the Chargers come is if there's a new stadium waiting for them(they won't play in the coliseum). I don't see that happening.
If anyone comes back to LA it needs to be the Raiders. NFL doesn't need 2 teams in the bay area.
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Post by TW on Jan 27, 2009 16:51:23 GMT -5
Rest assured, if San Diego loses the Chargers to LA, they will get a replacement team.
It might be the beginning of a double move, where the Chargers go north, and the Vikings head West, a year later, after their lease in the hump is done.
As for building a stadium in San Diego, they will partner up with someone like Wilf, who has already shown his willingness to put a lot of money into a new plant in Minnesota.
Losing money in California is one thing, but turning down potentially increased revenues is something that they would never consider, since the new stadiums in both LA and San Diego would be money makers.
The plan I see being done is the Roski plan, which is in the City of Industry if I recall, and is eco-friendly. It's actually has a berm side of the stadium, and is kind of built into a hill.
A majestic thing if built, and the Roski people say it's even more cost effective.
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WhatUSaid
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Post by WhatUSaid on Jan 28, 2009 23:56:22 GMT -5
Rest assured, if San Diego loses the Chargers to LA, they will get a replacement team. It might be the beginning of a double move, where the Chargers go north, and the Vikings head West, a year later, after their lease in the hump is done. As for building a stadium in San Diego, they will partner up with someone like Wilf, who has already shown his willingness to put a lot of money into a new plant in Minnesota. Losing money in California is one thing, but turning down potentially increased revenues is something that they would never consider, since the new stadiums in both LA and San Diego would be money makers. The plan I see being done is the Roski plan, which is in the City of Industry if I recall, and is eco-friendly. It's actually has a berm side of the stadium, and is kind of built into a hill. A majestic thing if built, and the Roski people say it's even more cost effective. Traffic would be a disaster if they build that stadium where I think they want to.
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Post by TW on Jan 29, 2009 7:42:39 GMT -5
If I recall correctly... I might be wrong... they were talking somewhere near the 105 & 110? They could put filter traffic in and out on both?
I'm not certain, but they talked about it being one of the better locations to get traffic out.
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Post by snowpack on Jan 29, 2009 11:41:05 GMT -5
Industry is off of the 60 Freeway.
Whatusaid- I heard they were redoing the 57-60 interchange. That will be awesome as you won't have to exit Diamond Bar Blvd to get on the 57. Not sure how much it will help the traffic for the stadium though. I'm curious. Did they ever finish that freeway for trucks they were supposed to from San Bernadino to LA. I know they were talking about it to relieve the traffic on the 60, but haven't heard anything since I moved.
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Post by packfanforever on Jan 29, 2009 13:09:53 GMT -5
The Vikings' lease at the Metrodump expires after the 2011 season. The state budget is a mess, $ 5-Billion shortfall. No way a stadium deal gets done. Funny. Many (most?) Minnesotans were GB fans before 1961. Wonder if they're going to become Bears fans? Anyway, I think this will be a nice trivia questions after 2011: What do the Duluth Eskimos, Decatur Staleys and Minnesota Vikings have in common?
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Post by TW on Jan 29, 2009 13:17:26 GMT -5
You're right. It's by 57 & 60, but can dump traffic into the 10 & 210 fairly easily. There's some good details on the stadium, and yes, it does have a berm side. Take a look at this. It would be just about right in being delivered to handle either the Chargers or Vikings. Right now, the NFL will not allow the Saints to move out of New Orleans because of the negative publicity they'd get, so those two are the most likely candidates to fill it. losangelesfootballstadium.com/You've got to watch the videos, and check out these pics. This thing will be the beast of stadiums, and be the center piece of the NFL.
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Post by snowpack on Jan 29, 2009 13:43:16 GMT -5
As much as I love hating the Vikings, LA would be a good move for them. I have a hard time believing either the 49ers or the Raiders would move down. Plus after the way Al burned a couple of surrounding cities, I think he would have a hard time finding a contract acceptable to him. I could see the Chargers making the move, but I am not sure they would gain any more support than they already have. LA has been without a team for 14(?) years and they haven't really embraced them. The Vikings just make sense. They have decent talent to garner support and if they made the switch to the NFC West, they would be contenders based on this years games. Here is one LA man's opinion of the Raiders moving back to LA. www.sgvtribune.com/ci_11574658
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Post by TW on Jan 29, 2009 13:57:03 GMT -5
It won't be the Raiders. You're right about their fan base. They aren't fit to be allowed in any stadium except the Oakland dump.
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Post by thegreenmeanie on Jan 29, 2009 15:30:00 GMT -5
At least the Vikings would have someone to talk about how Minnesota was with the Lakers. We can start calling L.A. Little Minny.
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Post by WhatUSaid on Jan 29, 2009 20:14:50 GMT -5
Industry is off of the 60 Freeway. Whatusaid- I heard they were redoing the 57-60 interchange. That will be awesome as you won't have to exit Diamond Bar Blvd to get on the 57. Not sure how much it will help the traffic for the stadium though. I'm curious. Did they ever finish that freeway for trucks they were supposed to from San Bernadino to LA. I know they were talking about it to relieve the traffic on the 60, but haven't heard anything since I moved. The work is done on the 57-60 interchange. It added a few lanes that's pretty much it. It added a bunch of carpool lanes. Which is better than nothing I guess, people don't carpool much here in the greater LA area. They made it so you don't have to exit the carpool lane to transition onto the 57(from the 60), vise versa. Traffic there isn't as bad as it used to be but the stadium will crush that area again. I know this area fairly well, I went to college(Mt. Sac) right by where this stadium might be going. The schools exits for the 60 are Grand and Diamond Bar Blvd(basically where the stadium is going). The stadium site is still a hill, has a buncha huge power lines over it. The surrounding area is mostly all new industrial. I can't imagine a stadium there. I looked at that link TW. This is off the LA stadium website. Majestic applied for modifications to the certified EIR to permit the development of a football stadium suitable for a National Football League (NFL) team and to reduce the overall retail, entertainment and office development from 4.8 million square feet to 2.9 million square feet. No way in hell this thing opens for business in 2011. If it does I think the Chargers will be playing there. I saw something that after the 2010 season the contract is up in SD(or something along those lines)
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WhatUSaid
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Post by WhatUSaid on Jan 29, 2009 20:15:38 GMT -5
We can start calling L.A. Little Minny. Oh god no!
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