Chargers staying in San Diego for 2016, have option for L.A. in 2017
The San Diego Chargersannounced Friday the team will remain in San Diego for the 2016 season.
Chairman Dean Spanos wrote in a statement that he has hopes for a new stadium long-term, but that the team has an option and agreement with the Los Angeles Rams to share the team’s new Inglewood stadium beginning in 2017.
Spanos said he still wants to keep the Chargers in San Diego.
“I have met with Mayor Faulconer and Supervisor Roberts and I look forward to working closely with them and the business community to resolve our stadium dilemma,” Spanos wrote. We have an option and an agreement with the Los Angeles Rams to go to Inglewood in the next year, but my focus is on San Diego.
“This has been our home for 55 years, and I want to keep the team here and provide the world-class stadium experience you deserve. Everyone on both sides of the table in San Diego must now determine the best next steps and how to deploy the additional resources provided by the NFL. I am committed to looking at this with a fresh perspective and new sense of possibility.”
The Rams were allowed to move to L.A. from St. Louis earlier in January after an owners’ vote. The Chargers hold an option to move until January 15, 2017, contingent on whatever stadium plan the team works out. The Rams and Chargers have been in talks since then to work out an agreement in which the two teams could feasibly share the Inglewood stadium, currently on schedule to open in 2019.
The Rams, Chargers and Oakland Raiders each applied for relocation to Los Angeles. The Chargers’ initial plan was to build a joint stadium with the Raiders in Carson, Calif., which was ultimately rejected by league ownership.
According to another report by Acee earlier in the week, the Chargers have acquired land in Orange County, Calif., which is suspected to be used as the team’s new practice facility.
