Why you should be watching San Diego FC

If you're reading this, there's a pretty good chance you already know who I am and you remember me running the internet's most popular San Diego Chargers blog almost a decade ago.

I have been a San Diego sports fan since I moved here 27 years ago. At times, I have considered myself the most die hard of Chargers and Padres fans. Things have changed, life moves on, but I have a message for fans of San Diego's MLB team and San Diego's departed NFL team:

You should be watching San Diego FC

Now, far be it for me to tell others how to spend the time or money (don't forget to subscribe to Section 1904!), but few things have brought me as much joy in the last couple of months than following San Diego's MLS team.

I might be the target audience, and I'm willing to admit to that. I have a Premier League team that I root for and regularly wake up early on a weekend morning to watch their games. I get that not everyone is coming at it from the same angle as me.

Also, you might remember this pitch I'm giving from when I gave it four years ago in a post titled The San Diego Loyal deserve your attention. I'll tell you why I think it matters more now than it even did then...

Hybrid sports fandom

"Hybrid sports fandom" is a term that I just made up but stick with me. I like going to games. I also like watching games on TV. I like when a team is local enough, with a good enough TV broadcast, for me to choose the viewing experience.

With the Loyal, I often felt like the TV broadcast couldn't quite capture the game experience in a way that felt equal parts analytical and exciting. So, while I loved going to games, I didn't feel connected to the team and community unless I was there.

With Major League Soccer (including San Diego FC) getting professional insight and broadcast quality by way of AppleTV, I feel like there are advantages to watching on TV that you can't replicate at the stadium and vice versa. That's how I prefer to interact with a team.

Maybe that's rare or unique, I don't know. But one thing the in-person experience adds that the TV experience doesn't is...

Tailgating is back

No offense to any of the other sports teams in town or their fans, but nothing in San Diego can really top the tailgating scene at Qualcomm Stadium before the Chargers moved north.

I've been to tailgates at Petco Park and they don't compare. I've heard stories about tailgates at the sports arena but I've yet to see one. The only thing that has even come close, in San Diego, is the tailgating that I've seen for the first two home games of San Diego FC.

I remember when the Chargers left town, and many fans were standing in front of Chargers Park either burning memorabilia or talking to the local news, and many fans talked about how much they were going to miss tailgating. That's where friendships are made and solidified. That's where people share food and alcohol and play catch in the parking lot. Is it perfect? No. Is it a community, in a way that isn't really replicable in other ways? Maybe!

For the first SDFC home game, I was eating food given to me in the parking lot, drinking beer that someone else brought in their car and dancing to a band that had set up to play for tailgaters. I made friends with strangers and it felt like a moment that I wouldn't forget quickly or easily. It felt like tailgating at Qualcomm, and not just because we were standing on pebbles that were previously probably parts of the old stadium that broke off when they tore it down.

Beat L-A

On Saturday, 4th place SDFC is going up against 3rd place LAFC. The Galaxy are at the bottom of the standings and the other two teams in southern California are trying to make a run at being both "good" and "cool" in their markets.

The previous SDFC games at Snapdragon Stadium were against Columbus and St. Louis. Those fanbases weren't exactly traveling to see their teams play in San Diego (although I did meet the dad of one of the St. Louis players in the line for the bathroom during that game), but the LAFC fans absolutely will. They'll be there in the stands and they'll be there at the tailgate. These are the types of moments that can birth long-standing rivalries.

Whether it's in-person or through AppleTV, I would recommend that you find the time on Saturday to watch San Diego FC and see what has been building with both the club and the fanbase.

You can wait and hop on the MLS bandwagon when it gets bigger and more crowded but, as someone that has made the leap and is living and dying with every shot on goal in these games, I can tell you that it feels like all of the parts of fandom that I fell in love with before it became (at least partly) about relocation and changes in team ownership. Maybe it will feel the same way for you.