Support Your Local Sheriff

Another American Football franchise is on the move, with further relocations set to happen that would seriously question the commitment of the ordinary supporter.

The San Diego Chargers are to move to Los Angeles, meaning supporters will face a 240 mile round trip to support the club that has been housed in the city since 1961. Owner Dean Spanos' logic on the move includes the gem that the side was originally formed in LA, spending the 1960 season as the LA Chargers.

Quite how many of their supporters will remember one season 56 years ago is anyone's guess of a single figure percentage.

Spanos says he has spent 15 years trying to get a new stadium in San Diego to replace the 70,000 capacity Qualcomm Stadium, built in the late 1960s but considered to be incompatible for his side's needs. Local taxpayers were given the choice to agree to a 4% tax increase to secure funding on a $1.8billion building project but, with the economy still struggling, the team were given only two thirds of the support needed to pass the bill and their fate was sealed.

Attendances at the Qualcomm Stadium were averaging 66,000 in 2015 but dropped by 11,000 in the current season after Spanos failed to move the team in close season last year. Their seasonal performance also didn't help, winning just four of sixteen matches in 2015 and five in 2016, while the suspension of the NFL blackout policy over the past few seasons - where games are not televised in the local area if tickets are not sold out - has also hit several sides. If you wanted to make an argument on TV coverage affecting ticket sales, you'd probably start there...

The Chargers' new, temporary, home is the 30,000 capacity StubHub Center, with a 70,000 capacity stadium in the process of construction. That stadium will be shared with the LA Rams, who moved back to the city from St Louis after 21 years during the last close season.

The Rams are something of a nomad even by NFL standards, having played in Cleveland until their first LA move in 1946, then Anaheim (1980) and St Louis in 1995. Rams fans following their side from St Louis will need to take a week off work for the drive, or spend $500 on flights for each game. Or they can watch every match on TV. Which is the likelier outcome?

The Rams will play the 2017 season at the 90,000 Memorial Coliseum, their home during their previous LA run and also that of both the Chargers and Raiders during their stays in the city. The 90 year old stadium has gone through several renovations but its future as a NFL standard venue is now in doubt.

The other former tenant, now the Oakland Raiders, are set to move to Las Vegas (1200 mile round trip) - provisionally by 2020. They moved to Oakland in 1995 but are now set to end a 25 year stint with a move to Las Vegas, a city with zero history in the NFL due to the city's links to gambling.

The only gamble the NFL seem to like is with the emotions of the fans.