San Diego Chargers will file for relocation to Los Angeles in January

The San Diego Chargers will file for relocation to Los Angeles when the NFL opens the application window in January, Mark Fabiani told The Mighty 1090 AM radio show.

“At this point yes, because there's no sign that the other team or teams are not going to file,”  said Fabiani, who serves as the Chargers’ special counsel. “Everyone assumes all three teams will file, and in that case we can't afford to lose our market in Los Angeles and Orange County.”

The Chargers, Oakland Raiders and St. Louis Rams are all expected to file for relocation in January.

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Los Angeles has not housed an NFL team since 1995, when the Rams left for St. Louis and the Raiders left for Oakland.

Teams interested in filing for relocation can do so from Jan. 1 to Feb. 15, and need approval from 24 of the league’s 32 owners to move.

In mid-October, Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers admitted to using a silent snap count at Qualcomm Stadium, the team’s home venue, because of crowd noise coming from fans of the visiting Steelers.

“It was like being on the road,” Rivers said.

- Kenny Ducey