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San Diego Chargers owner Dean Spanos has decided to give the city of San Diego another chance in continuing efforts to keep the football franchise in a city it has resided in since 1961. The Chargers have been in talks with the Los Angeles Rams in Los Angeles for a possible partnership, but the organization decided that it would be wise to stay in San Diego for another year before making a quick decision as Spanos explained via Chargers.com.
Today I decided our team will stay in San Diego for the 2016 season and I hope for the long term in a new stadium. 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.
The hangup between the Chargers and the city of San Diego is obviously about money and how much money the city of San Diego should spend on keeping the Chargers in terms of building a new stadium. There is an ongoing argument that the Chargers should be the ones that should pay for their own stadium, or at least pay most of the cost to build a new stadium instead of the city of San Diego using a lot of taxpayer dollars to fund the project. After all, the NFL did split 7.2 billion dollars in revenue sharing after the 2014 season alone.
Chargers players in Melvin Ingram and Keenan Allen also reacted to the decision to stay in San Diego via Twitter:
Staying in San Diego 4 another year..Every home game better be sold out..Charger blue everywhere Fans got what they wanted Now come support
— Melvin Ingram (@MelvinIngram) January 30, 2016
So it's looks like we are going to be in San Diego for another season. The stadium better be packed. The fans got what they wanted.
— Keenan Allen (@Keenan13Allen) January 30, 2016
Chargers fans were not too happy for the most part with the way Allen and Ingram responded to the situation. The 2016 season will tell a lot if the Chargers are really wanted by San Diego residents or if the organization has finally wore out its welcome for good with their attitude.