The Chargers lost in L.A. Relocluster Relay, with the team’s preferred project in Carson finishing second in a two-venue rendezvous with Inglewood. But the Chargers have emerged with a win-win.
By working out terms of a shared stadium with the Rams in L.A. with a commitment to stay in San Diego for at least a year, the Chargers can eventually move with little or no blame or guilt. The cup has now passed to San Diego; if the people of San Diego want to find a way to keep the Chargers, the people of San Diego have one last chance to do it.
Don’t want to subsidize a billionaire? That’s fine, but the billionaire will be leaving, and the people in San Diego will have only themselves to blame.
And even if there’s no way to work out a new deal in San Diego, it makes sense for the Chargers to stick around for another season. Why not stay put when the alternative is to share space with the Chargers, Rams, and USC in the L.A. Coliseum? It will give the Chargers more time to plan the move, and to avoids the possibility of a sudden uprooting of the organization.
So now they get what could be a farewell season or the first of many more to come. Whether they stay, the Chargers have done their part. It’s now up to San Diego.
