Raiders may be coming to San Diego

For about 56 years, San Diego was home to the Chargers. San Diego loved its Chargers. While they were not always the best team, this city never stopped showing love for its team. 2015 came around, and there were rumors of the team possibly jumping to the city of Los Angeles.

The team owner, Dean Spanos, had always dreamed of bringing a team back to the city of Los Angeles. In the summer of 2016, the St. Louis Rams received permission to move back to Los Angeles for the upcoming season.

The San Diego Chargers also got permission, while the Oakland Raiders passed on the idea of moving back to L.A.

When Dean Spanos was asked if he would not commit to reviving the negotiations with the city of San Diego, he said that they were going to look at all of their options, but he was noncommittal.

His plan, ostensibly from the moment he purchased the team, was always to move a team to Los Angeles. He seemed to have wanted all the big lights to be on his team. It seemed that he thought those lights would shine brightest in Los Angeles.

With the Rams and Chargers staking their claims in Los Angeles, the Oakland Raiders might be looking for a new relocation city.

The Raiders have filed relocation papers to move to Las Vegas. Yet, after casino businessman Sheldon Adelson and investment bankers at Goldman Sachs both withdrew from negotiations, the Raiders are now looking for a new home. Of course, a move to San Diego would put the Raiders in a city that long considered them to be a bitter rival. The two teams have met 115 times.

Aidan Davison, a senior at University of San Diego, cannot believe that the Raiders could be leaving his hometown.

“If they leave, of course I would be pissed because that is where I am from, and they have so much support from the local community,” Davison said.

“There is much history in Oakland. The city just can never get anything together to build a new stadium. That is why they are leaving. Now that the Vegas deal fell through, it will be interesting to see what all goes down.”

The possibility of the Raiders coming to San Diego County seems very slim because of the Raiders’ popularity in Southern California. Many consider them the most loved team on the West Coast.

One concern of a possible Raiders move would be them acquiring previous fans of the Chargers. While a move might be a possibility to some, others do not think it is feasible. Davison believes that it is wishful thinking.

“I honestly do not believe that it is a real possibility,” Davison said. “San Diego does not seem to be able to support a team right now, and they would make a lot more money if they were to move to a place like Las Vegas. But if they somehow were able to workout a deal to build a new stadium, or to upgrade Qualcomm, that would be cool.”

San Diego may have seemed like a great place to have a new football team, but the support, just did not seem to be there.

There have been many chances to upgrade Qualcomm Stadium, but the city officials were opposed to it when it was on the ballot last fall, even if it was funded through a hotel tax.

The sports teams in San Diego do not compare to the team from the Bay Area. According to Davison, he feels that the support is lacking in America’s Finest City.

“I do not think that a football team would make much money here,” Davison said. “I have been to games at Qualcomm where the away team makes up most of the crowd.”

Even when the Chargers were arguably one of the best teams in the league, the attendance was still down. It seems as if both the likelihood and possibility of a team coming back to San Diego is low.

It seems like San Diego may be without a football team for the first time since 1960.

Written by Jake Ellis, Contributor