Much was made of the fact that the Chargers didn’t individually introduce players during Sunday’s home game against the Chiefs, with the implication being that Chargers fans were overwhelmed by Chiefs fans. However, it wasn’t the first time it happened at StubHub Center this year, and it won’t be the last.
According to the team, coach Anthony Lynn previously decided to stop individual introductions for reasons unrelated to crowd size or response. Lynn has opted to have the players enter the field as a team, a trend the Patriots began in Super Bowl XXXVI. As a result, there have been no individual introductions for the two preseason games or the two regular-season games.
The Chargers also insist that they have been selling out the 27,000-seat stadium, and that ticket sales of less than 26,000 reflect the fact that more than 1,000 tickets are distributed to sponsors and others.
Of course, this doesn’t change the fact that visiting teams have had a noticeable (and audible) presence at Chargers home games. It also doesn’t address the question of whether significantly more than 25,000-plus tickets will be sold when the Chargers are playing in a significantly larger stadium as of 2020.