Five takeaways from the Chargers first game at StubHub

On Sunday August 13th, the Los Angelels Chargers took the field at their new, and temporary, home at the StubHub Center. In 2016 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, they averaged about 60,000 fans per homegame. With a capacity of 30,000 fans, the StubHub Center makes for a much different football experience. Here are my takeaways

22,000 were on-hand for the Chargers preseason opener. Not a sell-out crowd, but what else does one expect at a preseason game? By the start of the third quarter, fans filtered out of StubHub and all of a sudden it looked empty. With such a small capacity the stadium is bound to be packed come regular season. However, once you file out fans that are squeezed into one section, it gives the illusion that the stadium is a ghost-town. Hopefully, we will see fans staying through the entirety of games. 

Assuming that the regular season will breed higher attendance and fandom, it's easy to see that the experience of watching the Chargers becomes more interactive and intimate. With fans essentially being on the field, the players can access the fans and vice versa.  On each kickoff, for example, Chargers players ramped up the energy by running up to the short wall at the back of the endzone and high-fiving and pumping up the fans. Not to mention, fans have easy access to the players during pregame. As safety Tre Boston put it: "It's like being in high school under the lights again." 

Los Angeles went from having no NFL teams to all of a sudden having two. With the Rams as the defacto veteran of the city and the Chargers being so close to their old home in San Diego, it seems as if Southern California football fans are having difficulty accepting the Los Angeles Chargers brand. Looking around StubHub on Sunday, Seahawks jerseys were everywhere, and if you listened closely, fans mumbled about the loyalty of the Chargers to San Diego. It's going to be interesting to watch the 'Fight for LA' between the teams AND the fans. 

The outcome of the game (48-17) was in no way indicative of how the Chargers will perform this year. In the first drive of the game, the number one offense drove down the field easily, against one of the NFL's best defenses, and scored on a, you guessed it, Phillip Rivers to Antonio Gates back-of-the-endzone touchdown. The Chargers defense then came out and held the Seahawks high-power offense to just three points. Rookie safety Desmond King said that "It felt the same to me, it's a great football environment."

It's enclosed, small, and comfortable. No matter where you sit, you will feel involved and engaged with the players and games. Even with a sold out stadium, there will be no REAL nosebleeds seats, and anywhere you sit, you will have a great view of the field. Like the LA Galaxy do at StubHub, the Chargers will have to rely on their relationship to the fans in order to make this team, its players, and its fans distinct and special.