DEFINITIONS
Love is described as "A feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection."
Hate is described as "To dislike intensely or passionately; Feel extreme aversion for an extreme hostility toward."
Fact is described "Something that is said to be true or supposed to have happened."
Fiction is described as "An allegation that a fact exists or known to have exists that is not yet known to exist."
It has been 13 months since the team relocated to LA. Fans have been left with a soul of emotions of decades of memories and traditions that the team in it biggest mistake in Spanos era left with a statement to the fans saying they turned the page instead of addressing the fans one on one.
The front office was ill prepared to address the media and the nation let alone San Diego. I believe it was typical Spanos. It was the ultimate cowardly act. There is no good way to announce the relocation BUT there is a bad way. It was mishandled how they announced it. As fans assembled at the complex burning jerseys or crying calling in to sports talk radio. We lived through what is proclaimed, the saddest day in San Diego Sports History. It was all done so cowardly though that even it lowered the bar for Dean Spanos.
SPANOS AND THE TEAMS GOALS GOING INTO CARSON
That is for history to debate now. The Chargers had 3 fronts they wanted to establish in LA in their first chaotic offseason in the city of Carson.
1. Get the new complex in Costa Mesa to began construction while upgrading the Stubhub Center to NFL standards.
2. Began to outreach with the community in LA through a various amounts of charities.
3. (Special Advisor Jeffrey Pollack) "Go all in with LA. Do not address San Diego and the past. This is the only way to win LA., Pollack advises and he creates the slogan "FightForLA!"
"GRADING RESULTS"
Let's address #1. Dean has always been a very charitable family donating millions to charities in need. In San Diego through Dick Lewis who use to be the Chargers Head of Security for many years. They donate money to feed the homeless here and sponsor the High School game The Spanos Classic though under new name. The Charger Cheer leading training camp is still sponsored by the team for SD elementary and Junior High Schools along with our local Make A Wish foundation.
In LA, the team is cementing themselves within the community (but so did Hugh Hefner) but that doesn't result in making more fans. They have donated $500,000 to the Hurricane Harvey Relief fund in Houston and $250,000 to So Cal Relief for victims of the wild fires, 30,000 pounds of protein distributed to families in need, Fed 30,000 homeless people a month, and as a team donated over 600 hours of community hours to LA charities, 450 backpacks to kids in elementary school, 300 kids got to get e free dental checkup, attended as a team 152 community events in LA between July and Dec, At Catskill School 150 kids got brand new bikes, and 28 Chargers supported the "My Cause, My , 10 Heart Health Test CPR kits to inner schools.
0 days off in the FIGHTFORLA!! (laughs,chokes)
Grading the Chargers are doing great in the community. It doesn't win fans but does establish your brand in the community. Grade A
JEFFREY POLLACK FAILURES
On January 1, 2015 the team hired Jeffrey Pollack. He brought a impressive resume as a graduate of Northwestern University and Harvard to be a special advisor to Dean Spanos. His job to "consult on the team's stadium options and future revenue growth". Mark Fabiani and Jeffrey were the two that hired Manica. The proposed stadium architect in Carson who the team was trying to get a stadium jointly with the Raiders.
He had experience in big cities before from being an executive with the LA Lakers and NHL. He was also the executive with World Series of Poker. The gamble hasn't paid off. Everything Pollack touched has turn to shit.
He advises Dean on who to transition from San Diego to LA. He was the one advise the team to forget about San Diego for now. Deal with San Diego later. His advice was if you want to get into the LA market as a player you have to exclude San Diego for 2017 and go all in for LA. He creating the unpopular slogan FightForLA!
LA was about to meet the Chargers (never under estimate them to make a bad decision) Chargers up close and personal. The free tattoos (great for fans don't know how this creates fans) as well as the Pink Hot Dogs meetup was all Pollack brain child.
#2 Costa Mesa and Carson...Dean has had to invest tens of millions in just Costa Mesa and Carson. In 1997 amendment to the lease at Murphy Canyon the team had no rent. They even had their property tax withheld as part of the blood sucking Alex Spanos pulled off. In Costa Mesa they have 3 buildings that are 2 story and 184,000 square feet. They have the 3.2 acre parcel that is where The Corner is Located. A popular venue in Carson.
AEG operates the StubHub Center. To meet the NFL standards the team worked with the League and added 16 food trucks, Increased the Press Box from 35 to 53 and installed 60 cubicles in the locker room, renovated 43 Luxury Suites with seats,furniture, high end portable restrooms and hardwood floors.
The SE corner added 330 seats and moved a beam that increased the amount another 1,000. Bleachers had to be replaced for a better seating experience on the 2nd deck on the east side.
There is the American Express club that has 25o south side seats and 14 cabanas. The Jim Bean Champion Lounge allows you to see the players as they come out of the locker room. Along with 2 jumbotrons on each end zone you have the NFL-Chargers intimate seating experience. They are 8,000 parking spaces outside that allows you to tailgate 4 hours before the game.
That is between 10-20 million the team has spent on venues for them to use the next 2 years. Dean did what he had to do in this case. There is a 10 year lease on the Costa Mesa Facility.
JEFFREY POLLACK FAILURES
On January 1, 2015 the team hired Jeffrey Pollack. He brought a impressive resume as a graduate of Northwestern University and Harvard to be a special advisor to Dean Spanos. His job to "consult on the team's stadium options and future revenue growth". Mark Fabiani and Jeffrey were the two that hired Manica. The proposed stadium architect in Carson who the team was trying to get a stadium jointly with the Raiders.
He had experience in big cities before from being an executive with the LA Lakers and NHL. He was also the executive with World Series of Poker. The gamble hasn't paid off. Everything Pollack touched has turn to shit.
He advises Dean on who to transition from San Diego to LA. He was the one advise the team to forget about San Diego for now. Deal with San Diego later. His advice was if you want to get into the LA market as a player you have to exclude San Diego for 2017 and go all in for LA. He creating the unpopular slogan FightForLA!
LA was about to meet the Chargers (never under estimate them to make a bad decision) Chargers up close and personal. The free tattoos (great for fans don't know how this creates fans) as well as the Pink Hot Dogs meetup was all Pollack brain child.
LA MEET THE SPANOSES!
LOGO GATE
The introduction to the Chargers in LA started off badly. First off they released the new of being the LA Chargers on the company Twitter account the same day as they revealed they were leaving San Diego. The logo would become a historic display of unpreparedness and embarrassment by a team trying to make a good impression on the first day in LA. Not only was the release of a new logo and website of LA to soon. The logo was the LA Dodgers logo (same colors) but with as lighting bolt thorough.
The laziness was a embarrassment and raised questions. How could a multi billion dollar business could release a logo into it's new market that it looked more like something a kindergarden child would bring to school for show and tell. It hadn't even been 24 hours since they announced the relocation and they team already had egg on it faceOne of the many times Jeffrey Pollack failed this team
The Chargers were tormented on Twitter and sport stations trolled the team laughing across the nation. So many sports teams trolled them on social media that became to many to cover. Here is just a few who mocked the teams first attempt to show they belonged in LA
The Indianapolis Colts attacked from the NFL. They were followed by a all day barrage at the Chargers. Minor League Baseball teams such as the Montgomery Biscuits, Omaha Storm Chase chasers, New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Island Empire 66ers, Biloxi Shuckers, Fresno Grizzlies, Reno Aces and the NHL Florida Panthers are to just name a few that were taking shots at the team. 24 hours into LA and the entire nation was laughing at them. It got so bad that ESPN Rachel Nichols said, "AMAZING! I have never seen so many pro sports teams just openly troll another sports team. The way the Chargers are getting trolled right now." Senior Writer for ESPN said " I have been told that the Chargers will never use that logo again. It was the shortest lived logo in sports history!"
That evening was Dean first night in LA. He joined Jeanie Buss at the Staples Center for a NBA game between the Lakers and Clippers. On the video board they announced the Chargers were coming to LA and showed TE Jeff Cumberland. Not exactly the response Dean was envisioning when thinking about how LA would respond to the Chargers moving in. The nightmare didn't end there. The following day a new logo with yellow and powder blue was released. It looked exactly like the font used and the same colors as the UCLA Bruins. It was recalled by the team too. 2 logos in 2 days. It shows how the team was not prepared for the response they were receiving from the media to the fans. Only 35% of the front office agreed to the conditions of moving to with the team.
Unfortunately, the errors continued over the next few months. While the team was trying to establish that they belonged in LA they just kept making laughable decisions one after another. Meanwhile their complex in Costa Mesa was about to be ready to move in. a They also had to upgrade the Stubhub Center to meet NFL requirements. The National media sports circuit continued its ambush and mockery of the LA Chargers into the Preseason as displayed above by National syndicated CBS Sports Radio show "The DA Show".
The fact is Carson is temporary and is not as big of a deal as some are making it out to be. I do believe the NFL is this for the long haul with these 2 teams. The NFL is not going to step in and make Dean sell or anything close to that. The legacy of Dean Spanos is what is at risk. The owners care about TV ratings (willing to be patient) and attendance. The tickets were sold. The Owners of the other NFL teams that did not relocate are due to collect 21 billion dollars per team at the beginning of the 2020 season.
There is no fact or fiction to the Carson experiment. It has really never been done before. It is an experiment. Hall of Famer Dan Fouts called the StubHub experience a embarrassment to the Chargers and the NFL. Dan Fouts works the Chargers preseason games. He is actually a Charger employee.
Dan Fouts on the Chargers playing in Carson at the Stubhub Center "It's embarrassing. I think, for both the Chargers and the NFL, to be playing in a 27,000 seat stadium." Dan Fouts played 15 years for the Chargers. They played in 27,000 or under just 3 times during the 2-12 1975 season. The Chargers have never been close to that attendance since. The Carson experiment below Video 1 Eagles 2 Browns 3 Dolphins 4 Bills 5 Sports Illustrated 6 Jimmy Kimmel and South Park just for fun. Then q video from last year of Inglewood Stadium. The NFL Disneyland
The fact here is the NFL is different than any other sport in America and they have changed the way it does business over the years. The average fan is not as important as you once were. It literally does not matter if the stadium is empty or not. All that matters is selling the suites and club seats along with collecting $250 million of shared TV revenue every year. The want to sell to rich businessman now. If they come to the games great if not the owners make the same amount.
Dean Spanos has 1 set of obligations to the league. 1. Sell the luxury suites and club seats. 2. Pay $1.00 a month in rent annually. 3. Pay the relocation fee of $550 Million over 10 years. That is really all he has to do. The Chargers have no quota and they have no set of guidelines on selling PSL's. There is no price point to follow. They are free to sell them as they wish any way they desire.
Let's examine the Jets-Giants for a comparison. The Giants have Section 201 Row 18 Seat 17-18 that will cost $5900.00 per seat plus the $123.00 for a game ticket The Jets the smaller team in the city. The Jets 1one section over from the quote on the Giants is Sec 249B Row 17 Seat 10-11. For the Jet fans it will cost $2950.00 plus the $125.20 game ticket. Both teams are priced dramatically differently in their PSL even though they share a stadium.
FICTION
The Chargers did not tarp 3000 seats because of any inability to sell tickets. The ticket office on March 26, 2017 announced every home game was sold out. The team wanted to install 3,000 seats but were delayed by AEG who operates the StubHub Center. The tarp is the beginning of the construction until they can go back to constructing probably this offseason. "OFFICIALLY" you have to have 95% of capacity to come through the turnstiles. For example vs the Dolphins the team sold all their seats but only 25,374 went to the game. That is not a sell out. No matter who the fans are a bought ticket is a bought ticket especially when they get bought that fast. The lowest the team attendance was against the Browns where 25,015 came to the game. The Chargers never got more than 25,393 and that was against the Raiders, 25,388 vs the Broncos, 3rd was the Eagles at 25,386.
No accurate count consists of how many Charger fans are in LA compared to SD or who goes to the games. One thing though has almost everyone agreed on. The Chargers need more fans.
In speaking to the team they are not "freaking out" by coming back to San Diego to try and reach out to SD fans. I learned months ago that after the season their plan was to focus back on the San Diego fans that are waffling about following them or not. My opinion it is to little to late to try and amend the way you treated this city the last couple of years.
However you can hear it in their voices and in their actions that they are very worried about selling seats in a stadium of 72,000 in Inglewood in 2020. Nothing tells you they can but right now nothing tells you they can't either. It is to soon to say either.
THE NEW NFL
One thing that concerned me was I recently heard the Chargers will not be discounting anything much in 2020. Game tickets for Chargers games will out price that of the Cowboys game in Dallas. WARNING: Sticker Shock coming to a fans near you. The team has never been good under the Spanos at marketing the team. A huge marketing effort is needed in both cities or the team will fall into irrelevance.
TV RATINGS.
.A single point in LA represents 5.2 more viewers than in SD. SD tv ratings were down 60% in 2017. It was an average of 14.2.
The team is trying this PR game that no one ever watched more than now. It's a political spin. There is almost 19 million in LA. The Rams had a 7.1 rating and share in LA of watch the Chargers. A 6 rating although rated higher in LA is not going to cut it. The Rams averaged an 8 in 2017. That means only 532,000 watched the Rams in week 10. The Chargers even less. You can go to www.statista.com is good site for this kind of information.
The Rams and Chargers are in the 2nd biggest TV market in the country. Yet almost every team has a higher per household watching them. The Rams and Chargers just can't get any traction in LA. No wonder the NFL stayed out so long. The NFL made a massive mistake by not moving the Raiders to LA. However, the NFL has bigger issues on their mind. Spanos will not be forced to sell anytime soon in the next decade. They Rams and Chargers will play in LA for the next 30-50 years. Who will care is the million dollar question?
There is a window of opportunity here for both teams. The next 2 years will be vital in both teams history as well as the NFL. Here how I would appeal to the 20 to 30% of SD chargers fans that hasn't gone to the games in Carson but does follow the team
HERE HOW I WOULD DO IT
1. No longer even utter the words FIGHTFORLA. Unofficially began marketing the team to all of Southwestern California instead of one city.
2. The team holds a no hold barred press conference. You moved the team now be a man and face up to it. They would admit that they mishandled the way in which they left. They answer all questions from the press in San Diego and LA.
3. In regards to San Diego the Spanos family stays in LA. There is a market of about 30% of fans in San Diego that don't go to games but might. We would have a press conference announcing the retirement of Antonio Gates. We would name him the "Ambassador to San Diego." Gates holds a party once a year in San Diego calling it San Diego Day. The history of the team is rediscovered and relived that day through events throughout the day.
4. The team pays for a statue of Junior Seau and Don Coryell at the beach in Oceanside.
5. NO PSL for SD longtime season ticket holders. You instead receive for the same amount a gameday breakfast with former players. There is no parking fees for this customer and they all sit together in a exclusive section just for them.
Here what they should not do. Don't come back to me after a year of silence and say we would welcome you back!!!!
It's insulting and another sign that their just worried about the future in LA. If they can fill Inglewood even half up they will be fine. For example 45,000 would be a good start. The Spanos family has never connected with the fans of the Chargers not in San Diego and they won't in LA. It's to late for some half ass attempt from John and A.G. to tell me to turn the page. 56 years of history doesn't get forgotten in 13 months assholes.
The team soon will not have Gates and Rivers due to retirement. You have a chance at success with a closing window. In 2 years you that could shine in LA or be forgotten and lost in LA big market.
The team told Judson Richard and Nick Hardwick on 1360am on Radio Row at the Super Bowl in a interview with preset conditions that they were not going to talk about the past. Dean is a coward. Decisions making paralyze him. The future of the Chargers depend on what they do the next 2 years.Either you want to hide behind conditions of a interview and stay silent or do you want to be the man you said you'd be on the teams website 13 months ago...
WHO WE ARE
This is Los Angeles.
LA is people and places and passion and pride.
Any respect given, must be earned.
You show up with a dream.
Then work hard to make it come true.
So, we fight. Every practice. Every play.
Every single yard. On every field.
In every neighborhood. For all of LA.
We wear LA on our chest.
We fight for it with our heart.
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