The Beach League: Cowboys, Chargers, Rams, Raiders, Saints training in L.A. area

Seeking sunny skies, milder temperatures and the serene beaches of Southern California, five NFL teams are holding training camp in the greater Los Angeles area for the first time in league history. 

The Rams open training camp at Loyola Marymount for the first time in franchise history, moving from the team’s former site at UC Irvine. The Chargers will hold camp at the team’s new headquarters in El Segundo. The Dallas Cowboys are back in Oxnard for the 18th season since 2001. The New Orleans Saints, with a new cafeteria under construction at the club’s permanent facility in Metairie, Louisiana, will use the Rams’ former spot at UC Irvine. 

Finally, the Las Vegas Raiders return to Los Angeles for training camp at Jack Hammett Sports Complex in Costa Mesa, the Chargers’ former home. The Raiders played in L.A. from 1982 to 1994, winning a Super Bowl after the 1983 season and building a significant fan presence in L.A. along the way. Las Vegas general manager Tom Telesco served as GM of the Chargers for 11 seasons, so he’s very familiar with the Costa Mesa venue.

These five teams are starting practice within a 100-mile radius in Southern California this week. According to the Los Angeles Times, a sixth NFL team explored holding a future training camp at the Rams’ former headquarters of Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. 

Having multiple teams in one area harkens back to a time when several NFL teams traveled to Wisconsin to get away from the heat. In addition to the Green Bay Packers, the group of teams in the so-called “Cheese League” included the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs, Jacksonville Jaguars and Saints, reaching a high mark of six teams in 1995. 

The new group of teams in Los Angeles has conjured up a new nickname: “The Beach League.” 

Only seven of the 32 NFL teams will hold training camp at a different site than their team’s headquarters this year. That’s in stark contrast to decades past; in 2001, just five teams held training camp at HQ.

So, what has changed over the years? For one, teams have altered what they want to get done during training camp. Players work out year-round and no longer need a boot-camp-style schedule of two-a-days in blistering heat to work themselves back into shape after their offseason slumber.

“What they do in training camps is so different than what they did in the 1960s for sure,” said NFL historian Joe Horrigan, who served as a ball boy for the Buffalo Bills in 1968 and 1969. “It was one thing to go to training camp together. But they ate meals together in the school cafeteria. It was like military life. … You do everything at the same time, and it forms a bond. That’s what training camp was like. It was regimented.”

Former Raiders CEO Amy Trask echoed Horrigan’s thoughts, saying training camps overseen by legendary owner Al Davis — held away from the facility in Napa and when the team was in Los Angeles in Oxnard — developed chemistry and brought teams together.

“Al Davis was one of the team owners that expressed to me that he thought there was a value to going away,” Trask said. “He felt that when you go away to training camp, there is more intense focus. You’re away, at this site. You are focused on training camp, and training camp only, far more than you may be if you stay at the primary facility.”

Now, NFL owners prefer training camps at team headquarters to reduce costs and increase revenue from big crowds. Players also get the benefit of all the amenities that the team headquarters provide, including a weight room, training facility and indoor practice facilities in case weather is an issue. 

However, the enticement for teams like the Cowboys, Saints and Raiders to train in Los Angeles is a break from sweltering heat in their home cities. They have access to the beach and what L.A. has to offer on off days as well as an opportunity to schedule joint practices with other teams.

With more teams choosing not to risk playing foundational players in preseason games, joint practices have become a way for teams to get competitive work done against an opposing squad. The Rams’ Sean McVay is one head coach who has eschewed playing starters in preseason games to avoid significant injuries to frontline players, choosing instead to play them in the more controlled environment of joint practices. 

With four other teams in the area, organizing those practices with other teams has become more convenient.

McVay said the Rams will scrimmage twice against the crosstown rival Chargers, once against the Cowboys and once on the road before L.A.’s final preseason game against the Houston Texans.

“To get four opportunities and never have to go back-to-back, that’s a big deal,” McVay said. “There is always kind of a little give and take based on if you play that team in the upcoming season. Fortunately, all those teams we don’t — with the exception of obviously Houston. We will play them in the preseason, but it’s a totally different approach.

“It’s great for this area. Obviously, the weather and the settings and surroundings allot for a great training camp and we’re looking forward to being able to go to LMU this year.”

While the Rams and Chargers have been hospitable, they also want to protect their home turf, which is understandable. Both teams are paying $650 million in relocation fees to play in Los Angeles after the city went 20 years without an NFL team. Rams owner Stan Kroenke paid $5 billion to house both the Rams and the Chargers at SoFi Stadium. Further, both teams have spent big to build new permanent headquarters, so it makes sense that they would want some protection for their investment.

Chargers CEO Fred Maas indicated during the opening of his team’s new facility in El Segundo a few weeks ago that the Bolts are more focused on their standing in Los Angeles than on others joining them.

“I’m just terribly excited about the Chargers and what we’re doing here,” Maas said. “Our only regret is that we couldn’t have 20,000 people here a day, every day at training camp. I think if we opened it up for 20,000, we’d probably fill the place.

“But we’re all excited from our coaches and ownership, down to our players. Everybody is excited about seeing this place [the Chargers’ headquarters] come to fruition.” 

[READ MORE: Chargers usher in new era with Jim Harbaugh, sparkling new headquarters]

According to NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy, each NFL team has an exclusive home territory extending 75 miles in all directions from the exterior corporate borders of the city in which it is located. If another club holds its preseason training camp within that exclusive territory, then it cannot be marketed locally.

Because of that, the Raiders will limit training camp attendees to select VIPS, season ticket holders, sponsors and invited guests, while the Saints training camp practices will not be open to the public. Neither team can advertise nor promote its presence in the L.A. market. 

The Cowboys are grandfathered in because they were holding training camp in the area well before the Rams and Cowboys returned to Los Angeles and can therefore market their team and entertain fans at their facility in Oxnard. 

“I don’t speak for them [Rams and Chargers]. I’m not putting words in their mouths, but it would strike me that they can’t be thrilled that two additional teams are coming in,” Trask said. “That said, Raiders fans are going to love the fact that the Raiders are here. And I love when Raiders fans are happy.” 

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.

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