Rams relocation working better than Chargers or Raiders

While the Los Angeles Rams have settled into their temporary Coliseum digs, both the Los Angeles Chargers and the soon to be homeless Oakland Raiders are struggling with relocation gone awry.

The Los Angeles Rams are nearing the end of their third season in LA. And despite a rocky and losing beginning in 2016, the future looks bright and shiny.

It’s not necessarily the same story for the Rams soon to be Stadium-mate Los Angeles Chargers or Northern California neighbor Oakland Raiders. Sure the Chargers are in the midst of a playoff run, and are even a team many NFL analysts love for a Super Bowl run.

However, the Bolts being good hasn’t translated in Los Angeles the way it has for the Rams. While the Rams enjoy a significantly higher profile in LA, the once San Diego Chargers are finding a small audience in their Carson, California soccer home.

As for the Raiders, the prospects of litigation courtesy of the City Of Oakland is intensifying as owner Mark Davis may be in the waning days of the franchise in the East Bay. Davis is now looking at other cities to play host to the Raiders in 2019 as they wait to move to Las Vegas for the 2020 season.

This particular round of relocation musical chairs isn’t likely a good look for the NFL. While the Rams back in LA has had its bumps as recently documented with a court settlement in St. Louis, the Chargers moving north to join the Rams in their new Inglewood stadium, and the Raiders exit from Oakland looks messy for the Silver and Black and perhaps shaky for the Bolts.

Both the Chargers and Raiders are charter members of the old AFL, and while the Chargers did have one season in LA, both fan bases in San Diego and Oakland are left without teams who had deep ties to their respective communities.

The Rams back in Los Angeles solves a lot for the league as it once again has a legitimate and winning franchise in a lucrative market like LA. The stadium project is an anchor that will also serve as a headquarters for NFL Media, as well as a logical home for events like the NFL Combine and the NFL Draft, as well as the Super Bowl rotation.

Clearly, that’s the one relocation scenario that has worked best of the three, with the Las Vegas one still pending but anticipated to be on par with what the Rams now have with Los Angeles.