Chargers stadium vote fails, opens door for move to Los Angeles

Bud Adams and family wished they stayed in Houston when they saw the value of the Texans since its beginning. Plus, being able to host a Superbowl and being awarded another. Possum Holler will never have that honor.

 

Yeah. I know. Sad face.

It won't happen but would be fantastic if it did.

I think there's enough room in Texas for 3 teams. I mean I know there is. Sure by default the Texans and Cowboys would lose some fan base. But you might also perhaps have some of that mitigated by just having even more of an NFL presence in Texas. More rivalry. More media coverage. Etc. certainly there's NFL coverage here in Austin, but no one really cares a ton.

 

Yep. That era was right on the cusp of the internet exploding, mega-media rights deals throughout sports (making up the bulk of profits), and teams realizing that new stadiums (while important when you play in a dump) don't really set anybody apart once everybody eventually has one.

There is a ton of local revenue tied strictly to market size, from local media rights deals, to ancillary events at a stadium (when the NFL owner has the controlling stake), to Super Bowls.

The Rams in STL with a new stadium are a middle-of-the-pack franchise. The Rams in LA with a new stadium are a top 3 franchise in value, and that does hold up on re-sale.

Believe it or not, Houston is actually a market that could support two football teams. The logistics support it (The Texans, while having a strong following, are less than 2 decades old... so no deep-deep-deep set loyalties exist), the town remains football-centric/crazy year round without any major competition from the college side, and theres no shortage of land in surrounding areas that have massively growing populations.

Of course, the same reasons why a 3rd team in Texas is not really feasible would still be true of an additional team in Houston.

 

In addition to the other arguments, the NFL has typically stayed away from smaller cities that have a huge college football fan base.

Certainly, I think the 3 Texas teams would do better than the 3 Florida teams.... but the Cowboys by themselves would prevent any sort of mitigating factor to their Austni/San Antonio fan base.

 

Never said it was likely or that it should happen.

Just that it "could" happen given houston's love for pro football, the Texans not having deep roots, and plenty of affluent suburb areas that could support a team outright.

On the flip side, the cowboys could never have anybody else that comes close to matching their entrenched status in the DFW area.

 

The Texans season ticket holder wait list is over 20,000 names long. The Texans currently have between 13-14,000 season ticket holders that buy over 95% of the seats at NRG. People on the season ticket holder wait list could sell out an 80,000 seat stadium on their own.

 

I'm sure they have data but on its surface it makes no sense. Rabid college football fans are also likely rabid NFL fans... or easily could be.

 

Not sure if you're supporting my point or trying to detract from it...

Yes, Houston loves pro football. And would likely consume the product no matter what the presentation.

 

There's only so much disposable income one is willing to offer, in terms of season tickets or simply time devoted to going to sporting events.

Austin will never have an NFL team.

 

The biggest problem with Austin is a massive lack of fortune 500 companies.

 

I think Austin has the money to support a football team. They already support the longhorns.

 

That's like saying you can afford to buy 2 houses because you own 1. Also, it's not wealth of citizens. It's the fortune 500 company base that throws a lot of money into ads in the stadium as well as with the programming that goes with the team. To make it worse, two of the 3 companies they have (Dell and Whole Foods) are both having financial problems.

 

I think that would be a huge mistake but they should know what's best.

 

It would have been nice if the Oilers name stayed in Houston. I think the NFL wasn't very sympathetic to Houston and the Mayor over the situation with the Oilers. Bud Adams was also the original team owner and a founding member of the AFL. It'll probably be better for the team to start with a new name in LA. I wonder if they try to do Silver and Black as a reference to when the Raiders were in LA and won. The Mets colors are a combination of the old New York Giants and New York Dodgers baseball teams but that situation had much richer tradition.


The team and NFL knew this was going to happen. It was never remotely possible %66 of the population would vote to build the stadium. They ended up saving more money staying in San Diego for a year than they would have spent if they moved to LA last year in rent and concessions. That's considering the fact they spent money of a public vote campaign. It also gave them time to plan out a move and think about how they want to partner with the Rams.

I don't think anyone in LA is going to be disappointed by this news. Most of them probably wanted the Raiders to move there and see the Chargers as a consolation. I think Baltimore fans are happy they started as a new franchise instead of taking the Browns name and history with them. They were more sympathetic because they lost the Colts years before but still.

 

LA doesn't need 2 teams, especially if one is going to be a completely brand new franchise with no starting fanbase. If the Chargers move there, half the stadium every week will be in attendance in order to root for the opposing team.