The Chargers could leave San Diego and play in Los Angeles next year, according to a report in USA Today quoting the president of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission.
“In light of the [downtown stadium] vote of the people of San Diego, it’s back on the table in earnest,” said the president, Mark Ridley-Thomas, also a Los Angeles County supervisor. “So the appropriate amount of due diligence continues to be done, and we will see if in fact we can strike a deal.”
A story Tuesday said the Chargers have until Jan. 15 to decide whether they want to move to Los Angeles “and share a lucrative new stadium with the Los Angeles Rams, a facility that isn’t scheduled to be ready until 2019.”
The Coliseum could serve as a temporary home for both National Football League teams in 2017 and 2018.
“The much smaller StubHub Center in the L.A. suburb of Carson also is a possibility for the Chargers as a temporary home,” according to the story.
“They had to get ready,” Ridley-Thomas was quoted as saying about the Chargers. “There’s a lot on the line. The health of the franchise is literally on the line.”
Mark Fabiani, special counsel to the Chargers, said the team has no comment on the USA Today report.
Craig Gustafson, spokesman for San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, told Times of San Diego that the mayor met Monday morning with Chargers special adviser Fred Maas.
“They spoke generally about the stadium situation and Maas reiterated that the team isn’t going to make any decision until after the season ends,” Gustafson said.