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Title: California’s Breakup With the NFL
Source:
Wall Street Journal
URL Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/califo ... ith-the-nfl-1507650531?tesla=y
Published: Oct 11, 2017
Author: Andrew Beaton
Post Date: 2017-10-11 07:36:45 by IbJensen
Keywords: None
Views: 608
Comments: 2
(A lone fan sits at the top of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in the first half of a game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 10.) As the Rams and Chargers struggle to gain a foothold in Los Angeles, the 49ers also deal with questions about fan support rs fans knew that starting over in L.A. wasn’t going to be easy. “We’ve been moved from a city in San Diego that appreciated the team and the players,” said Chad Smith, a Chargers fan at a recent game here. The Chargers aren’t alone in facing questions about their fan support. All four of California’s teams are struggling with identity crises. While the Chargers struggle in the L.A. suburb of Carson, where they are domiciled until a permanent home is completed in 2020, the Los Angeles Rams, in their second season back in Southern California, have seen home attendance fall by more than 20,000 per game since last season. In the Bay Area, the San Francisco 49ers offer fans the chance to wait in traffic, sit in uncomfortably hot seats and watch one of the worst teams around. The state’s most promising team on the field, the Oakland Raiders, is leaving soon after more than a half century in California for a glamorous new home in Las Vegas. “It doesn’t exactly seem like the Golden State for the NFL right now,” said Andy Dolich, a former executive with teams such as the 49ers and Oakland A’s. If that’s true, it’s a problem for the country’s most popular sport when it faces headwinds in the country’s most populous state. L.A. in particular has been the area where the league saw the biggest room for growth going forward. But in the early parts of this football season, startling pictures featuring swaths of empty seats have generated attention during and after Chargers, Rams and 49ers home games. The teams argue that the unflattering images aren’t fully representative of reality. For example, the Chargers say the crowds at kickoff don’t reflect the ultimate size of the crowds, and the fans may just be on the concourses. “It is a very L.A. thing—arriving late has always been part of the culture here,” said Mark Tamar, the team’s vice president of fan experience. (Fans at Levi's Stadium during a 49ers-Jets game in December. The team has a 2-19 record since the start of the 2016 season. ) “It’s fairly clear the opportunity we have in Los Angeles is unique,” said Jamie Reigle, the Rams’ new executive vice president of business operations, who came over after a decade with Manchester United. “That being said, there are some challenges in the market.” As Los Angeles sports fans mulled if they were ready to accept one NFL team, the Chargers quickly packed up, moved north and gave the city a second. Some fans in San Diego were upset because they thought the city offered the team enough money for a new stadium there, and others were simply puzzled. Indeed, the welcome for the Chargers has been short of a group hug. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, a Rams fan, said in a recent radio interview that the city will “embrace any team that comes” and is “certainly happy to have the Chargers.” But he added that L.A. “could have been happy with just [the Rams] too.” All of this has prompted questions about whether the team would actually consider moving back to San Diego. For now, that has been quashed, with the team noting they have already committed tens of millions to their facilities in the L.A. area. “There are no discussions of returning to San Diego from the league or at the club,” NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart said last week. Still, Victor Lopez, owner of El Pollo Grill near San Diego, hopes the team does just that. His restaurant is giving away free tacos every time the Chargers lose. Just walk in and say “Spanos Taco”--a reference to the owners who moved the team away—and voilà. The Chargers are 1-4 so far this season. Lopez says he has given away more than a few thousand tacos already. “By far the most successful promotion I’ve ever had,” he said. Poster Comment: Core customers of the NFL were middle income Americans working hard for 30 to 50 years in order to have a home, a family, and some off time with the family. Ticket prices went up, parking fees went up, souvenirs went up, food and drink prices went up; but the fans endured for their entertainment. Owners put the squeeze on local governments for free/nearly free stadiums [for them], fans endured that. Owners became billionaires, many players became multi-millionaires... fans were lucky to even see their incomes rise any appreciable amount since 2007; yet the fans stuck by the sport. Now with certain players, certain owners, and the NFL siding with the political Left; many fans have had enough. The NFL can die! I've had quite enough of sponsoring some low IQ big boy's purchase of a new Jaguar. 
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#1. To: IbJensen (#0)
Hard to imagine why anyone thought L.A. needed more than one team. It doesn't work well. Look at NYC's sports franchises in football or baseball. The NFL anthem stuff will probably hurt them more in California. The Lefties will hate it that Trump won the squabble and the NFL is caving to him.
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