Chargers owner Dean Spanos leaning toward moving the team to LA

Chargers owner Dean Spanos has not decided to move the team from San Diego to Los Angeles yet. He swears he won’t decide until after the season.

Yet, while he waits to weigh his options, he’s made it pretty clear that L.A. is definitely winning the debate he’s in no way having until after the season.

Spanos told Scott Kaplan of CBS that he’s leaning toward moving to Los Angeles.

The reason he’s leaning — but totally not thinking about this until after the season — towards opting into a stadium deal with the Rams is because a measure that would charge the team $1 annually for 99 years to stay in San Diego failed to pass this fall.

“I said I was not going to make up my mind until after the season,” Spanos told reporters after the game. “He asked the question, ‘Are you closer to leaving than staying?’ I said, ‘That would probably be an accurate statement.’ I also said I’m not going to make up my mind until after the season.”

If Spanos was looking for any fan support to sway him on Sunday, he didn’t get it. Qualcomm Stadium was overrun with Raiders fans who made the trip to see their team on the road.

Standout rookie Joey Bosa had nothing to compare the environment to.

The outpouring of support for the Chargers’ opponent in San Diego and a lousy season for the franchise may be leading up to a change of venue and city. And it’s something the players are taking note of as the year winds down.

“It’s what is shaping up to be a sad, sad ending to 55 years, if what could happen, happens,” Philip Rivers told Michael Gehlken of the Union-Tribune. “And I hate that. And it may not; shoot, maybe we’re here for another 55. I don’t know. I’m just saying, if it is, some of the way it’s coming to is pretty gross.”

The Chargers have until Jan. 15 to opt into a stadium deal with the Rams in Inglewood. At this point, it seems likely to happen.