The San Diego Chargers were given an extra 48 hours from their original Jan. 15, 2017 deadline to decide if they want to remain in San Diego or move to Los Angeles due to Sunday’s divisional playoffs games and Martin Luther King Day on Monday. However, it turns out their decision has already been made.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Chargers plan to announce their move to Los Angeles as early as Thursday:
A stunner: Chargers plan to announce as early as Thursday they are moving to LA, ending 55-year stint with SD, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 12, 2017
If all goes as expected, the Chargers will join the Los Angeles Rams in the bright lights of Hollywood nearly a year to the day that they moved, ending a 55-year tenure with San Diego. The Chargers played their inaugural season in Los Angeles in 1960 before packing their bags to San Diego the following year in 1961.
Chargers chairman Dean Spanos has yet to send a formal relocation letter to the NFL or notify public officials in either city of the team’s move, but according to Schefter, they have notified NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and other league owners of their move:
“The Chargers have notified NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and other league owners of their intent to move to Los Angeles for the 2017 season, sources said… unless Spanos unexpectedly changes his mind at the last moment — and there certainly have been enough plot twists in this San Diego stadium saga — the Chargers will be moving to Los Angeles.”
With the new stadium in Inglewood not set to open until the start of the 2019 NFL season, the Chargers are looking at calling the StubHub Center, the current home of the LA Galaxy, their interim home for the next two seasons. However, since the stadium only holds about 27,000 seats, an expansion is in the works to add an additional 3,000 more seats to have a total of 30,000 fans in attendance.
The Chargers team office headquarters and practice and training facilities will initially be located in Costa Mesa, CA, where they have already agreed to lease the Orange County land that is nearly 3.2 acres.
