Is the “Fight for LA” Over?
The Los Angeles Chargers sold out all of their 2017 home games, doubled the value of their NFL franchise and moved to the second-largest media market in the United States.
Instead of celebration, the Chargers were met with backlash and controversy over their arrival in LA.
The Chargers, as is well known, moved to LA from San Diego before the 2017 season. The Rams, also now back in LA, moved from St. Louis in 2016.
How can the Chargers win the fight for LA?
From the get-go, timing and a host of other reasons set the Chargers as an underdog.
Indeed, the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union Tribune said the Chargers will fail in the LA market. According to ESPN, only 21,504 fans attended the Chargers first preseason game, a far reach from the 89,140 fans that attended the Rams first preseason game in 2016.
Even so, the Chargers play in one of the best stadiums in the NFL, the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.
Situated 17 miles south of downtown Los Angeles and directly off of highway 110, the Chargers are in a prime location to attract football fans. It seats only 27,000. There’s no NFL stadium like it. Fans in the worst seats at the StubHub Center still have a clear view of the game.
The game day experience at StubHub can’t be beat. The LA Times was quick to attack the move to StubHub, but according to SB Nation, fans who attend Chargers games love the environment. Pregame tailgates at the Chargers’ Thunder Alley are loud and celebratory.
StubHub, as everyone understands, is temporary.
In 2020, the Chargers — and the Rams — are due to move to a Hollywood-esque sports complex in Inglewood, 14 miles northwest of Carson.
According to the OC Register, Los Angeles Stadium will have 260 executive suites, 24 owner’s suites, a 120-yard video board and a 70,000-person capacity. On the outside, a 298-acre entertainment district will feature a 6,000 seat performing arts venue, over 1.5 million feet of office and retail space, and 300 hotel reams. The stadium is expected to cost $2.6 billion dollars.
Picking up on the LA Times and Register projections of doom, experts have said the Chargers won’t bring enough fans to fill the new Los Angeles Stadium. Daniel Levitt from FiveThirtyEight said the Chargers are “suffering the NFL’s worst attendance decline in decades.”
Reality: the Chargers have sold out every regular-season game this season, according to the team organization. People who want season tickets have to go on a wait-list. Opposing fans at the games acquire their tickets through resale channels.
The most common attack against the Chargers is that the organization lost its San Diego fans. The Chargers have always had this problem, even in San Diego. Opposing fans regularly dominated Qualcomm Stadium, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.
In a stadium with a capacity of 70,000 people, 15,000 opposing fans won’t make too much noise.
In a stadium with a 27,000-seat capacity, 15,000 fans can control the noise of the stadium.
According to Deadspin, the Chargers had to use silent counts at their home games due to the crowd noise. At the massive new stadium, the Chargers would seem unlikely to have a crowd noise problem.
The Chargers’ viewership numbers are up despite their 4–6 record. On Nov. 12, their game with Jacksonville drew a 5.3 television rating, with 413,000 viewers in the LA market, according to the OC Register. For comparison: the 7–3 Rams played the New York Giants on Nov. 12 and got a 7.1 share, with 532,000 viewers.
Those numbers are not far apart.
To be fair, the Chargers doubtlessly will confront significant hurdles in fighting for LA.
First, the Chargers must market to millennials. This generation has never experienced an NFL game in Los Angeles. They have no predisposition to liking either the Rams or Chargers. The Chargers need to use the blank slate to their advantage.
The Chargers have not been successful with their rebranding so far. According to ESPN, social media outlets mocked the Chargers first attempt at a new logo. The Chargers have to rebrand themselves as Los Angeles’ team — much like the Lakers’ rebranding efforts way back when, in 1960.
The Chargers still use the same uniforms that they used in San Diego. They still have the same logo. They still have the same owners. If the Chargers want to be part of Los Angeles, they have to commit to Los Angeles with new uniforms, a new logo, and — since ownership is not going to change — new faces of the franchise.
The Los Angeles Chargers have to become part of Los Angeles proper if they want to win the fight for LA. The Chargers’ practice facilities and headquarters are in Costa Mesa. That’s in Orange County, between LA and San Diego.
Orange County projects a much different vibe than Los Angeles County. Brandon Mebane, a Chargers defensive tackle, said in an interview with CBS Sports that his “black teammates were having trouble getting owners to rent to them…a teammate offered to pay a YEAR [of rent] upfront and was denied.”
Indeed, a Costa Mesa city councilman, John Stephens, said that the Chargers should be the “Los Angeles Chargers of Costa Mesa,” like the “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.”
The team’s hype video showing the Chargers’ “fight for LA” shows people in South Los Angeles talking about the Chargers. In traffic, South LA can be two hours round-trip from Costa Mesa. That’s a tough sell for people the Chargers are trying to turn into fans.
The Chargers don’t have to win every game to win over fans but they do have to be entertaining, have a face of the franchise and engage with the young generation of fans who have never experienced a professional NFL team in LA.
The fight for LA is not over. It’s just starting. And this is a long-term play.
