LOS ANGELES (KRON) — The San Diego Chargers have both feet out the door, but they haven’t completely bolted for Los Angeles.
The Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams have an agreement to share a stadium in Inglewood, according to multiple NFL insider reports.
Team owner Dean Spanos says he’s going to try to work with officials in San Diego and will keep his team in Mission Valley through at least the 2016 season. If a deal for a new stadium can’t be reached with the city, he’ll likely pack his team and move it to Tinseltown.
“I have met with Mayor Faulconer and Supervisor Roberts and I look forward to working closely with them and the business community to resolve our stadium dilemma. We have an option and an agreement with the Los Angeles Rams to go to Inglewood in the next year, but my focus is on San Diego,” Spanos said in a statement on the Chargers website.
The Bolts are also reportedly planning for a new practice compound in in the Orange County city of Santa Ana, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
With the Rams and Chargers deal all but done, the Oakland Raiders — who technically don’t have a home stadium in 2016 — could replace their division rival in Mission Valley.
ESPN reported last week that a source with the Raiders called a move to San Diego “very viable.”
The Raiders will likely stay in Oakland next season, but the team is rumored to also be scouting locations in San Antonio and Las Vegas.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported, “Raiders owner Mark Davis is in Las Vegas now to meet with Las Vegas Sands chairman Sheldon Adelson about his support of a stadium in town.”
A move to Sin City would be difficult. The NFL has said they have no interest in placing a team in Las Vegas due to the legality of sports gambling.