Chargers Stadium Debacle

UT San Diego -  This is not meant to be a discouragement, just a reminder. For all that has been said and done, little of substance has been said and done. And because of all the time that has been wasted, precious little time remains.

The Citizens Stadium Advisory Group on Monday unveiled its financing plan for a $1.1 billion stadium in Mission Valley with enough detail and wiggle room to make what happens now interesting.

“They shouldn’t,” CSAG chairman Adam Day said Monday morning when asked if the Chargers would have a problem with his task force’s proposal. Day smiled when it was pointed out he had to know the team would take some issue with the plan.

This 15 year dance between the Chargers and the city of SD has been a blinking contest that has become an awkward game of who has less leverage. Both sides have been putting on a clinic on poor negotiation tactics.

On one side you have a football team that is trying to get the "Best Deal" from their hometown by leveraging a move to Carson CA. On the other side you have a city that simply can't get anything done in terms of public funded infrastructure projects.

The CSAG was put in a no win situation and put something together to appease people wanting to see some sort of effort from the city. The proposal is definitely a starting out point to help gain interest in a negotiation between the 2 sides and also a fallback plan for the Mayor to say, "We did something and the Chargers just didn't want to be here" if they actually do move.

The Chargers have handcuffed themselves because its obvious the ownership group doesn't want to leave SoCal. Only giving yourself two locations that you are willing to operate out of simply gives SD much more leverage than the city should have.  Also the Chargers threatening to relocate to a city that is also being eyed by 2 other NFL teams gives the Chargers even less leverage. LA knows they are eventually getting a team and the local population prefers the other 2 franchises that have shown interest in LA (Rams and Raiders).

As for the actual proposal in all honesty it kinda sucks. The fact the non-Chantilly threw in an assumption of 100M more private funding from the Chargers and charging them 1m rent for every home game was pretty nuts. No NFL team will ever pay rent at their stadium. Markets dictate pricing and no where in the NFL does a team pay a city rent to play in their hometown. The Price surcharges for tickets and parking are also just a bad look for the average fan just looking for more excuses to not attend a live game. Finally, the assumption that this town will produce over 125M in PSL's is outrageous. SD essentially has only 3 fortune 500 companies. The average size companies in this town on average do not spend on sports entertainment like other towns. I would be Shocked if PSL money hit above 85m.

The Chargers plan also sucks as well. Their current plan to move to LA would be a shared stadium with one of the worst organizations in sports (Raiders) that also has a death grip on public popularity in the LA region. Also the Carson plan has TONS of holes in it as well and it truly isn't where the Chargers want to be. Ideally they would be in downtown LA by themselves. If I was the Chargers I would at least open my eyes to other markets to create more leverage against the city of SD but its too late for that because the Bolts showed their cards well before the flop.

This Dance is gonna keep going in a circle for the rest of the summer with both sides talking big and probably doing nothing.

Here is a great read on the finance side of the proposal…  Click here

P.S.  The Fact that basically all departments report to a Spanos family member in one form or another is so retarded it hurts.

This old creeper in the Fouts Jersey is absolutely everywhere and scares the shit out of me. Looks like a retarded Jerry Buss kid with soulless eyes. I tip my cap to his relentless.