Chargers, Rams have agreement to share Inglewood stadium in 2017
The San Diego Chargers and Los Angeles Rams have reached an agreement to share a new stadium in Inglewood, the team announced.
Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune first reported the news.
Chairman Dean Spanos wrote in a statement Friday that he has hopes for a new stadium in San Diego long-term, but that the team has an option and agreement with the Rams to share the Inglewood stadium beginning in 2017.
This enables the Chargers to complete their move to Los Angeles if they choose to go forward. However, Spanos’s focus appears to be on figuring out how to keep the team in their current home.
“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,” Spanos wrote. “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.”
NFL owners voted to allow the Rams to move to L.A. from St. Louis earlier this month. The Chargers hold an option to move until January 15, 2017, contingent on whether the team can work out a stadium plan. The Rams and Chargers have been in talks to work out an agreement to share the Inglewood stadium, currently scheduled to open in 2019.
The Rams, Chargers and Oakland Raiders each applied for relocation to Los Angeles in early January. The Chargers’ initial plan was to build a joint stadium with the Raiders in Carson, Calif., but that plan 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.
