The Los Angeles Chargers (3-4) beat down the Denver Broncos by a score of 21-0 yesterday and have been showing some signs of competitiveness. Unfortunately for them, the city does not seem to care very much. The 27,000-person soccer stadium which is temporarily holding the Chargers is still not filling to capacity, and the people attending are mostly wearing the opponents colors.
Despite an awful game for the Broncos, their fans certainly showed up. The crowd at the Stubhub Center was seemingly at least 75% Broncos fans which made the venue look like a miniature Mile High Stadium.
People took to social media with plenty of pictures, videos and commentary on the crowd in Los Angeles which makes the situation for the Chargers even worse. This is not the only time this has happened, the past few home games for the Chargers have had home field taken away from them.
Don’t let the orange stands fool you. This is a @Chargers home game. #DENvsLAC pic.twitter.com/X85143b3gu
— Ramheart (@WillramWallace) October 22, 2017
A bad trend for LA
The Broncos takeover was arguably the biggest one so far, but there was still a few other games that were similar. In the previous home game against the surging Eagles, the Stubhub Center turned green and silver with the aroma of cheese steaks in the air.
John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia posted a video of the Eagles taking the field in Los Angeles to a roar of cheers and a sea of green in the stands. Not to mention the Chargers were booed when they came out on their own turf. The Eagles won this game 26-24.
Sounds like #Eagles🦅home game to me
— John Clark NBCPhilly (@JClarkNBCS) October 1, 2017
Birds take field pic.twitter.com/FDEM2dlolE
The home game before that against the Kansas City Chiefs was similar.
The Chiefs beat the Chargers, and at the end the game thousands of people dawning red and white began their traditional Arrowhead Stadium chants. Even in their home opener the stadium had plenty of empty seats and thousands of supporters for the opposing Miami Dolphins. In the end the Chargers have yet to have actual home field advantage and it might not happen for a while.
Live from Los Angeles, Chiefs fans have taken over #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/tXbY2zeAuw
— Keller Weiler ♚ (@kellerweiler) September 24, 2017
Reactions
The words "embarrassing" and "joke" have been often used to describe this situation. The NFL has gone through a number of struggles recently and seeing this certainly does not make the league look any better. The new stadium that will hold both the Chargers and Rams is a few years off, and unless the Chargers move again, it is hard to see this trend breaking.
"I mean, it's almost like the Chargers got 16 away games. It's going to be tough sledding for those guys," Eagles OT Jason Peters said in an interview
It's hard to imagine how the Chargers themselves feel, seeing as they are the ones who have to play in front of hostile crowds at home.
Unfortunately though all of this is not a big surprise among football fans. Los Angeles had NFL stadiums and due to the loss, two teams are back in old and/or small stadiums where the interest is not very high. It is hard to see things drastically changing before the new stadium is complete.