After successfully hosting a number of NFL games over the years, London might be getting its own NFL team soon. According to The Athletic, the league and Los Angeles Chargers are considering moving the franchise to London on a permanent basis.
The Athletic’s Vincent Bonsignore cites league sources who reportedly told him that an idea of moving Chargers to London is beginning to gain traction among team owners and league personnel. On the other side, if the Chargers were presented with this idea, they would also be willing to consider it.
The reason why this is even an option is reportedly the concern among NFL owners that Chargers will fail to establish themselves in Los Angeles. Since relocating to LA in 2017, Chargers have been having trouble getting accepted by the city’s football fans, who overwhelmingly lean towards the LA Rams.
The league is committed to wait out and see whether the Chargers can get any traction in LA at the moment, but if things don’t improve, the London move is bound to get some traction.
Moving to London would definitely have a lot of benefits for the Chargers. Being the UK’s only football team would give the franchise a dedicated fan base and would ensure that they actually have a home crowd opposed to the current situation. Also, they would be in a big market and would have their own stadium.
On the other hand, there is plenty of cons as well. It’s unclear whether the players would accept living in a different country and how issues of traveling and different time zones would be handled.
The Chargers are probably remaining in Los Angeles for now, but don’t be surprised if they are on the move in the future.
