The Vikings soon will know whether their long-term home will remain in Minnesota, or whether they’ll be looking elsewhere, presumably to L.A. For the Chargers, the question of obtaining a replacement for Qualcomm Stadium is more complicated, even though the path to a potential new home in a new town is much shorter.
Matthew T. Hall of the San Diego Union-Tribune provides a detailed update as to the status of the team’s efforts to stay put. San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders met last month with Chargers president Dean Spanos, but there have been no tangible developments regarding a new stadium since then. Meanwhile, AEG continues to move forward with plans to build a stadium in Los Angeles, even though the team(s) to play there have not yet been identified.
Mark Fabiani, who is heading up the team’s stadium efforts, continues to take the position that the Chargers want to stay in San Diego. The keys to a new stadium are out of the franchise’s control.
“The collective-bargaining situation holds the key to whether the NFL is going to subsidize part of this stadium with a loan,” Fabiani told the Union-Tribune. “And until there’s a [California] budget deal, everything is open for discussion and debate.”
If both prongs don’t come through for the Chargers, L.A. becomes a stronger and stronger reality for the team.
Regardless, it’s looking more and more likely that someone will be playing in Los Angeles. And if it doesn’t happen via expansion, which is unlikely, it’ll have to happen via relocation.
For now, time is on the side of the San Diego. Eventually, however, time will run out.