How they left
The Spanos family took control in 1984. What followed was two decades of leverage, lawsuits and ultimatums aimed at the city that had filled the stands since 1961.
Alex Spanos buys control of the team.
The Stockton developer buys the majority stake from Gene Klein. Son Dean later takes over day-to-day control and becomes chairman.
The ticket guarantee.
In exchange for a stadium expansion, the city agrees to buy any unsold tickets below 60,000 per game. Taxpayers end up covering about $36.4 million for seats nobody bought before the clause was finally killed in 2004.
Fifteen years of stadium demands.
Starting with a 2002 letter from Dean Spanos to the mayor, the team pushes proposal after proposal: Mission Valley, Chula Vista, National City, Oceanside, downtown. Meanwhile the lease includes an annual window to walk away.
The LA plan was running the whole time.
The Chargers team up with the Raiders on a Carson stadium. NFL owners pick Stan Kroenke's Inglewood project instead, and hand the Chargers an option to join him as a tenant.
Measure C goes down, 57–43.
The team's own hotel-tax plan for a downtown stadium and convention annex needed two-thirds of the vote. It got about 43 percent.
A letter on Twitter.
Dean Spanos announces the move in a posted letter. By the end of the day, fans have piled jerseys, hats and helmets in the parking lot at Chargers Park in Murphy Canyon. Some burn theirs.
Welcome to a soccer stadium.
The "Los Angeles" Chargers play in the 27,000-seat StubHub Center in Carson, routinely outnumbered by visiting fans. Even the debut against Miami doesn't sell out.
Tenant No. 2 in Inglewood.
The Chargers move into SoFi Stadium as the Rams' $1-a-year renters. It's Kroenke's building, not theirs.
"San Diego's most hated man."
That's what one local columnist called Dean Spanos after the move. Fans burned jerseys and flooded his social media. In 2021 even his own sister went to court trying to force a sale of the team.
The Hall of Shame
Under the Spanos family's control the franchise has won zero Super Bowls. These are some of the reasons.
Trading the farm for Ryan Leaf.
Two first-round picks, a second-rounder and two players to move up one spot for a quarterback who was out of San Diego within three seasons. Still on every "worst draft picks ever" list.
Letting Drew Brees walk.
After a shoulder injury they made him a low-guarantee offer, and he left for New Orleans. He won Super Bowl XLIV there and ended up in the Hall of Fame.
Firing Marty after 14–2.
Marty Schottenheimer is fired weeks after the best regular season in franchise history. His replacement, Norv Turner, never reaches a Super Bowl.
No. 1 offense, No. 1 defense, no playoffs.
They lead the NFL in yards gained and yards allowed, then go 9–7 and miss the playoffs. Four blocked punts and four return touchdowns allowed will do that.
The Dodgers logo "tribute."
The new "LA" logo looked so much like the Dodgers' (with a bit of Tampa Bay Lightning) that it was mocked everywhere and replaced within days.
Blowing a 27–0 lead.
They lose the Wild Card game in Jacksonville 31–30, one of the biggest collapses in NFL playoff history. The next season ends with a 63–21 loss to the Raiders, and the coach and GM are fired the following day.