There was a time when the Rams and Raiders might have shared a stadium.
This weekend, they’ll share a time slot, competing against each other for viewers in L.A.
According to Jack Wang of the Los Angeles Daily News, Channel 2, the CBS affiliate in Los Angeles, received permission from the NFL to drop the Chargers-Browns broadcast it was scheduled to carry in the early slot so it could show the Raiders and Colts in the afternoon instead.
That game will be up against the Rams-49ers game on Fox’s Channel 11.
It’ll be interesting to gauge the ratings for those games, for several reasons, beginning with the fact the Rams-49ers ought to be dreadful. The Raiders have a historic fan base in L.A. dating back to their decade-plus playing there, and the fact they’re headed to the playoffs should provide a bump.
“Since receiving approval to move back home to Los Angeles, we knew that other NFL games would air in the same window as Rams games,” a Rams spokesperson said. “In fact, this will be the fifth time this season this has happened. With more than 10 million people in L.A. County, this region is filled with not only Rams fans, but also fans of other NFL teams who are used to seeing the best games each week.
“We are pleased our fans can tune into Fox to see our historic rivalry when we host the San Francisco 49ers at the Coliseum on Saturday.”
Of course, a historic rivalry is one way to put it, for a pair of teams with 23 combined losses on Dec. 24th.
