Bolt Beat will do weekly polls on Twitter. This week we focused on a potential Raiders’ move to San Diego.
The Raiders find themselves in a sticky situation. Along with the Chargers, the Raiders made plans in January to relocate, moving from Oakland to Las Vegas. They would be the third team to relocate within a two-year period.
A couple of weeks following the “official” announcement, casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson backed out of the stadium deal. A chain reaction was set off, as Goldman Sachs, the other financial investor, withdrew from the deal, too.
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The proposed 65,000-seat stadium would reportedly cost $1.9 billion, and despite setbacks, Raiders president Marc Badain recently told stadium authority board members that financing wouldn’t be an issue, according to NFL.com.
But before Badain made his comments about the situation, a report surfaced with San Diego reaching out to the league about potentially being a home for the Raiders. According to San Diego Union-Tribune’s Kevin Acee, Mayor Kevin Faulconer spoke with an NFL official to let the league know that the city of San Diego would like to engage in talks when the time is right. In the meantime, San Diego officially applied for a MLS expansion team.
It’s just speculation, but it’s a growing speculation. Mighty 1090 AM’s Scott Kaplan released a letter from a local San Diego businessman to Raiders owner Mark Davis with a proposal to bring the Raiders to America’s Finest City. Even MMBQ’s Peter King believes the Raiders are “in play in San Diego,” via the San Diego Union-Tribune.
In my opinion, it’s a long shot for the Raiders to move to San Diego. Financing a football stadium in San Diego still remains an issue (even though NBC 7 San Diego’s Derek Togerson provided a plan for a Raiders’ move to Mission Valley). I’m just here to state the facts thus far, but having the Raiders in San Diego is like having Batman join forces with the Joker: It’s just wrong.
Plus, as current (and former) Chargers fans, would you accept a longtime rival as the newest member of your city?
Well, let’s find out.
Weekly Poll! Would you root for the "San Diego" Raiders? Go.
— Bolt Beat (@BB_Chargers) February 7, 2017
Based off 400-plus votes, 50 percent would stick with the Los Angeles Chargers, while 37 percent would root for the San Diego Raiders. Keep in mind that voters consisted of former San Diego Chargers fans, fans who have continued to follow the Chargers in L.A. and current Oakland Raiders fans (attracted quite a few of them based off comments). Regardless, it’s interesting to see that a decent portion would support the San Diego Raiders.
We know San Diego Chargers legend and 2017 Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson despises the idea of the Raiders moving to San Diego. Would you guys entertain the idea of the San Diego Raiders? Let us know in the comments section.