Is the NFL trying to keep the San Diego Chargers in San Diego? Signs point to “Yes”

The NFL’s finance and stadium committees are meeting in New York City this morning to sort out the stadium situations for two NFL teams and whether they should be playing in Oakland, San Diego, Los Angeles, or Las Vegas.

No resolutions are expected out of today’s meetings. It’s sounding like the vote on whether the Raiders get to move to Las Vegas or not won’t be happening until the owners meeting in March. But today’s meetings set the stage for the future of the two teams in question.

Kevin Acee is in New York right now covering the meeting and has been sending out tidbits as he talks to team representatives.

So how would the Raiders moving to Las Vegas be good news for San Diego? Well for starters, it buys the city more time. With the Raiders in Las Vegas, the threat of them moving to Los Angeles instead of the Chargers is gone, so Dean Spanos doesn’t have as strong a deadline to decide whether to stay or go.

Then comes this quote:

Well doesn’t that give fans in San Diego a glimmer of hope? Reading between the lines, it sounds like the NFL is actively trying to get a stadium solution done in San Diego to keep the Chargers there. We know that the city, county, and San Diego State University all presented their best and final financing offers to the NFL, and it didn’t seem like enough of an offer at the time. But, the fact that the NFL is still trying to find solutions in San Diego does offer hope that they’re still at the table and willing to work out a deal.

This is in addition to the reports we were hearing last week that our own Jeffrey Siniard reported on. It appears the narrative has shifted, and the league is not as keen having two teams in Los Angeles as they once were. We’ve heard reports that the Rams saw lower TV ratings this year compared to last year, and that’s playing in the number-two television market in the country.

Oh, and just when you thought the San Diego stadium saga would be over by this coming Sunday, the NFL realized that having the deadline on a Sunday with playoff games happening was a bad idea and extended it two days.

I doubt this makes any difference in Spanos’s ultimate decision, but really what difference does 2 days make when we’ve been on this roller coaster for 15 years now?