Is The Raiders-Chiefs Rivalry About To Die? [Video]
By Ben Nielsen
We’ve heard the NFL has been trying to get a team in Los Angeles for years now but there is a new twist to the story that could have a huge impact on the AFC West.
A report over the weekend from Pro Football Talk suggests the NFL may be looking to move not just one but two NFL teams to Los Angeles in the next 12-to-24 months. The three teams who could potentially move? Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, and St. Louis Rams.
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There are two scenarios that seem to have the most legs at this point. One would be the St. Louis Rams moving to LA by themselves so they could retain the entire market. Stan Kronke, the Rams owner, has made it clear he does not want to have to share Los Angeles with another NFL team. This would keep the Chargers and Raiders in place.
The other option is to move both the Chargers and Raiders to LA, where both would get new stadiums and be able to tap into a larger fan base. The problem here would be having two teams in the same division in the same city. Mark Davis has offered a solution to this problem by offering to leave the AFC West for the NFC West.
Should the Raiders leave the AFC West, it is assumed the Seattle Seahawks would move to the AFC West since they have a history of being in the AFC West. Geographically, it would make more sense for the St. Louis Rams to join the AFC West in that scenario but we’ve seen that geography has never really mattered to the NFL when constructing their divisions.
A Raiders move to LA would essentially end one of the NFL’s oldest and most historic rivalries. No more Raider week, no more Jamaal Charles five touchdown games, no more Black Hole. In would come the Seattle Seahawks, fresh off of a Super Bowl win and the apparent makings of dynasty. Seems like a bad trade for the Chiefs.
Now, the NFL has been playing with the idea of sending a team to LA for years, using it mostly as leverage to get mid-sized cities to pony up massive amounts of cash to build billion dollar stadiums. The LA move was even used briefly in Kansas City during the discussion over whether or not tax payers should fund Arrowhead’s renovation. LA is a massive bargaining chip.
What are the odds this move actually happens? Probably minimal. But Mark Davis is a crazy dude and the Chargers are floundering in San Diego. There might be enough smoke here to turn this rumor into a fire.