The London Chargers?

[jordanzs]

Kinda makes sense actually......

The Athletic's Vincent Bonsignore reports the Chargers "would listen" if the NFL approached them about relocating to London.


According to Bonsignore, the possibility "has been broached among league personnel" and owners are "concerned enough about the Chargers’ situation in L.A. that they would provide the necessary support for a relocation to London if the Chargers pursue it." Tottenham Hotspur Stadium opened earlier this year with the NFL in mind and hosted two of the four London games this season after the across-the-pond series concluded this past Sunday. It seats over 62,000, and the Chargers are currently playing in a tiny soccer stadium in Carson, Cali. that seats a mere 27,000 where the Chargers are essentially the road team every week as it gets flooded with opposing fans. The Chargers are slated to join the Rams in their new $4.5 billion venue, but L.A. has not embraced the Bolts as it has the Rams. Moving to London would make a whole heck of a lot of sense, as the fans over there have totally embraced the NFL. It would likely require the Chargers switching divisions.

[TimeWillTell]

Well from what I can see in TV, LA is def not working out for them

[FantasyFreak]

The London crowd would be equally disengaged. So it would be a typical LA Chargers home game. I hate the idea, and I think it would be a mistake. Probably just drumming up interest. They made a mistake leaving SD. The idea is also not conducive to Tottenham's schedule. I think it's an awful idea, but I though 2 teams in LA was, too. The idea that the UK has "totally embraced the NFL" is inaccurate, too.

[Forza_Azzurri]

The London crowd would be equally disengaged. So it would be a typical LA Chargers home game. I hate the idea, and I think it would be a mistake. Probably just drumming up interest. They made a mistake leaving SD. The idea is also not conducive to Tottenham's schedule. I think it's an awful idea, but I though 2 teams in LA was, too. The idea that the UK has "totally embraced the NFL" is inaccurate, too.

I don’t think it happens, but Tottenham’s schedule is irrelevant. Soccer schedules are extremely flexible & change a bunch throughout the year due to all the non-league competitions that they play in.

[Cult of Dionysus]

It's a less terrible idea than having two new teams in LA.

They could move the Cowboys into the NFC Central (where they belong), drop the Chargers into the NFC East, move Tampa into the AFC South and Houston into the AFC West.

Easiest travel schedule for a London-based team to hit the Northeast. Dallas could play the Packers twice annually and the London team could play Boston (tea party) and Washington (battle of the capitals) twice annually.

And they can rebrand them as the London Queens.

Seriously, they better rebrand the team to make it London's team, cuz the Chargers brand doesn't bring anything to London except the baggage that it came from somewhere else and isn't really theirs.

[FantasyFreak]

The London crowd would be equally disengaged. So it would be a typical LA Chargers home game. I hate the idea, and I think it would be a mistake. Probably just drumming up interest. They made a mistake leaving SD. The idea is also not conducive to Tottenham's schedule. I think it's an awful idea, but I though 2 teams in LA was, too. The idea that the UK has "totally embraced the NFL" is inaccurate, too.

I don’t think it happens, but Tottenham’s schedule is irrelevant. Soccer schedules are extremely flexible & change a bunch throughout the year due to all the non-league competitions that they play in.

Not really. Hotspurs will always be the main team there. So it does matter. They play Saturday's and Sundays, mostly, for league games, and only have international breaks, mostly. They still play on weekends, and then have to play midweek for the non league competitions, like the Champions League, so it will affect it. Not sure how long that transformation on the field takes, to change it to the NFL field, but I see it as a potential issue. The main issue I see, however, is that it will not be a good move for the overall league, travel, giving a foreign country a team over cities who feel that they should not have had their team taken away, etc.

[FantasyFreak]

It's a less terrible idea than having two new teams in LA.

They could move the Cowboys into the NFC Central (where they belong), drop the Chargers into the NFC East, move Tampa into the AFC South and Houston into the AFC West.

Easiest travel schedule for a London-based team to hit the Northeast. Dallas could play the Packers twice annually and the London team could play Boston (tea party) and Washington (battle of the capitals) twice annually.

And they can rebrand them as the London Queens.

Seriously, they better rebrand the team to make it London's team, cuz the Chargers brand doesn't bring anything to London except the baggage that it came from somewhere else and isn't really theirs.

They'll wait until the Queen dies and name it the Kings. "Queens" in a testosterone laden environment has too many negative connotations, and no team in their right mind would name their team the Queens in this type of environment/sport, with 53 jacked up dudes looking to smash other people.

[jordanzs]

I lived in San Diego for 8 years and I go back and visit a lot.

I moved there in 1994 which was the season in which the Chargers went to the Super Bowl. The city had charger mania of course but besides that, San Diego didn’t engage well with having a football team. It felt like a city that has nice enough weather and other things to do in the fall that if the chargers weren’t winning, people would stop paying attention and go outside to do other fun things. I can see how in many other cities, life revolves around their football team. San Diego is the opposite.

[FantasyFreak]

I lived in San Diego for 8 years and I go back and visit a lot.

I moved there in 1994 which was the season in which the Chargers went to the Super Bowl. The city had charger mania of course but besides that, San Diego didn’t engage well with having a football team. It felt like a city that has nice enough weather and other things to do in the fall that if the chargers weren’t winning, people would stop paying attention and go outside to do other fun things. I can see how in many other cities, life revolves around their football team. San Diego is the opposite.

Interesting. Good to know.

[themburns]

I doubt we see a London team before the new CBA. A team traveling to an away game in London will probably need a bye week afterward. That being said, the Chargers or the Jaguars are top candidates. Jacksonville has played in a London game every year since 2013.

[Cult of Dionysus]

Adding a 2nd Bye week would be the best move the NFL could make. It would allow them to schedule better TNF so that both teams have a bye before their TNF game, give London-visiting teams a break before, and add some revenue $$$ into everyone's pockets.

[TheNuts]

Teams who live in areas with nice weather tend to have more fair weather fans. It's just the way things are. The Chargers made a huge mistake and I hope it kills them. Every single person knew that introducing two new teams to LA was a bad idea, and that the Chargers were most likely to be the team suffering the Most. They have a poor organization shown by their lack of success. Whatever they choose they will fail, and it will make the city of San Diego look like their best option by far

[bjd5211]

They never should have left SD. The Chargers are (at best) the 2nd most popular team from the AFC West in LA, and are probably not in the top 15 league wide among the LA fanbase. How was this not seen coming by ownership groups and league officials, but it was blatantly obvious to people like us that this would be the outcome?

[gunfrees]

The London crowd would be equally disengaged. So it would be a typical LA Chargers home game. I hate the idea, and I think it would be a mistake. Probably just drumming up interest. They made a mistake leaving SD. The idea is also not conducive to Tottenham's schedule. I think it's an awful idea, but I though 2 teams in LA was, too. The idea that the UK has "totally embraced the NFL" is inaccurate, too.

I don’t think it happens, but Tottenham’s schedule is irrelevant. Soccer schedules are extremely flexible & change a bunch throughout the year due to all the non-league competitions that they play in.

Not really. Hotspurs will always be the main team there. So it does matter. They play Saturday's and Sundays, mostly, for league games, and only have international breaks, mostly. They still play on weekends, and then have to play midweek for the non league competitions, like the Champions League, so it will affect it. Not sure how long that transformation on the field takes, to change it to the NFL field, but I see it as a potential issue. The main issue I see, however, is that it will not be a good move for the overall league, travel, giving a foreign country a team over cities who feel that they should not have had their team taken away, etc.

Takes about 30 minutes to switch from pitch to field, but can probably set everything up in a couple of hours

https://talksport.com/sport/us-sports/6 ... don-games/

[Pac_Eddy]

They never should have left SD. The Chargers are (at best) the 2nd most popular team from the AFC West in LA, and are probably not in the top 15 league wide among the LA fanbase. How was this not seen coming by ownership groups and league officials, but it was blatantly obvious to people like us that this would be the outcome?

I have no doubt the league knew all that. It's a business first, and going to London would be done for league business reasons, not for fanbases. Same reason for leaving San Diego. Even if the London franchise didn't have the best base, the league promotion internationally is probably the top goal for them.