A report came out Monday from a San Diego radio host indicating talks between the Chargers and Los Angeles Rams on a potential stadium partnership in Inglewood had stalled and that the Chargers were likely to remain in San Diego in 2016.
The report indicated the information came from a high-ranking Rams source, and needless to say, it made the rounds rather quickly.
Within minutes of it coming out, though, Rams CEO Kevin Demoff immediately shot it down to me saying it was completely false. Demoff, it should be noted, has been in charge of the Rams relocation to Los Angeles from the outset and is the point man in discussions with the Chargers.
Demoff insisted to me yesterday in no uncertain terms there is no merit to the story.
He followed up this morning with an official comment:
“We continue to have ongoing discussions with the Chargers about their opportunity to partner with us in Inglewood. Any reports to the contrary are false.”
The erroneous report is likely the result of the information blackout over the last eight days as the Chargers weigh their partnership options with the Rams. It’s left some fans and media types frustrated and in some cases, reaching for straws as they either guess or piece together what is going on from afar.
I’ve been able to do some digging over the last couple of days, and here is the latest:
From what I’ve gathered, it’s both a complicated and uncomplicated situation.
Uncomplicated in that the Chargers are simply doing their due diligence crunching all the various numbers that would result in a move with the Rams to Inglewood. But complicated in that we are talking about a stadium project that will cost more than $2 billion and includes a number of different revenue stream availabilities.
So while it isn’t rocket science, it’s also a painstaking process digging into all the materials.
The Chargers are taking their time. But I suspect they are closing in on a decision.
As far as any notion the Rams are trying to get over on the Chargers, it’s a false narrative.
Granted, the Rams aren’t laying out the red carpet inviting the Chargers to take whatever they want from whatever shopping aisle they chose, but the deal on the table is the one they pledged to fellow owners in Houston and the one fellow owners approved.
There is no deviating from it.
So while it’s fun to speculate and create wild stories to pass the time, the reality is what’s going on right now is pretty boring, meticulous stuff.
