Chargers Are Again In Talks With L.A.

I swear I read about these talks every year and every time a deal can't be reached with the City of Angels and the San Diego SUPER-Chargers. But alas, for your reading pleasure, here we go again. From the LA Times.

"As is always the case with the on-again, off-again saga of the NFL's flirtation with the nation's second-largest market, nothing is written in stone. In fact, it's more like murky skywriting, completely at the mercy of the fickle winds of change.

But more smoke signals came Monday when the Chargers signed a deal with Los Angeles-based Wasserman Media Group to market the franchise in L.A. and Orange County, a development that surely will be viewed by some as greasing the skids for a move north. There hasn't been a team in the L.A. area since the Raiders and Rams left after the 1994 season.

"The bottom line is Los Angeles and Orange County are two of the most lucrative markets in the world," said Mark Fabiani, the team's point man on stadium issues. "There's no NFL team in those markets, and there's no reason the Chargers can't pursue those areas in these difficult economic times."

Possible motivations aside, this much is clear: The Chargers, who have been working on a San Diego stadium solution for seven years and so far have been unsuccessful, are better positioned to move than any other NFL team.

Beginning on Super Bowl Sunday -- of all days -- the Chargers will have a three-month window in which to relocate. And, under the team's current lease terms with the city of San Diego, that window will reopen every year from this point forward. The city cannot sue the Chargers or the NFL to block a move, provided it is paid a $56-million lease-termination fee that will decrease over time."

This is interesting to say the least. And while whispers have always been going on about the Chargers re-locating, this seems to be the loudest it's been in quite some time. The big part, in my mind, is that if the Chargers get the deal with L.A., San Diego can't save them. And while I'm sure there are still some nuances known only to a few privileged men, this is about as wide-open a door that an NFL franchise can have to relocate if they so choose to.

And it's also interesting to note that at the NFL Owners meeting in March there will be talks about the location of Super Bowl L (for those not well versed in Roman numerals, that's Super Bowl 50), and it seems right now that Los Angeles, the city where the first Super Bowl was ever played, is the front-runner to host the golden anniversary Super Bowl. A Super Bowl has never been hosted by a non-NFL city, so perhaps this might be a bit of leverage for the Chargers to move, especially if L.A. gets the Super Bowl in March.

A new lease on life for the NFL in L.A.? (Los Angeles Times)
Hollywood to Get a Shocker? (Russakoff Rules)