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Which relocating team will find success in their new home first?

Reuters

The Oakland Raiders laid the groundwork for a potential move to Las Vegas by officially filing for relocation on Thursday. Should they receive the necessary amount of votes to be granted said move, it would mark the third NFL team to change locales in just 12 months.

The Los Angeles Rams played their first season outside of St. Louis this year and the Chargers will do the same this upcoming year when they transplant from San Diego to the City of Angels.

Each of the three teams face unique challenges in their new homes, so which team is best set up to find success? Here is the case for each West Coast team:

Los Angeles Rams

The Rams have a head start on this relocation thing. They earned near unanimous approval from the league's owners to move to L.A. and as a result will build a $2.6-billion edifice in Inglewood that will double as an entertainment park.

The Rams also have history to draw upon, having spent from 1946-94 in Los Angeles before their move to St. Louis. The team drew on those memories of Eric Dickerson, Jack Youngblood, Merlin Olsen, et al in marketing its return to Hollywood.

But the Rams stubbed their toe in their first season back in town by putting together a forgettable 4-12 year that resulted in the firing of their head coach.

The Rams finished dead last in offense with an uninspired offensive philosophy that alienated them from the fans that did show up to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

They've hired 30-year-old Sean McVay to try and reignite the stagnant offense and bring to life the career of No. 1 pick Jared Goff. Goff appears straight out of Hollywood casting and there remains the hope that Todd Gurley can find the form that made him the Rookie of the Year in 2015. With a new approach and a strong defense, the Rams can win the town all over again, but that's all that matters to L.A. fans - winning. They'll need results, and fast.

Los Angeles Chargers

Quite honestly, the Chargers stumbled out of the gates. By giving San Diego one more shot to retain its team, the Chargers afforded the Rams a year to test out the Los Angeles market. And by failing in their attempt to pass a joint stadium project with the Raiders in Carson, Calif., they were forced to agree to become the Rams' "co-tenants" in Inglewood. Not a good start.

Then there was the logo fiasco. They announced their move up the coast by changing their Twitter photo to an interlocking L and A in the form of a lightning bolt. The logo resembled the Dodgers' iconic symbol and even appeared to use Dodger colors. After a couple more attempts, and a concession that the new look was a bad idea, the Chargers settled on their tried and true image.

It also doesn't bode well that the Chargers will play their home games in a soccer stadium for the next two years. They'll call the 30,000-seat StubHub Center home until they move in with their parents, err, the Rams. The intimate and temporary setting is easily the smallest venue in the NFL.

On the field, the Chargers will be looking to make a turnaround from a 5-11 season. Luckily for L.A. fans desperate for a brand of football that doesn't mirror the Rams', the Chargers are among the more exciting teams in the league.

Despite their poor record, the Chargers placed 14th in total offense and ninth in points per game, scoring 25.6 per contest while the Rams put up 14 per game. They were also within six points of their opponents in five of their 11 losses.

With Philip Rivers, Melvin Gordon, and the eighth-ranked passing game, at least the Chargers' games will be entertaining, regardless of where they're played.

Las Vegas(?) Raiders

It's apparent the Raiders have the most competitive roster of the three teams on this list, but they face a new set of problems trying to make inroads in Las Vegas.

The Raiders would get their new, NFL-appropriate stadium if they are to move to Vegas, but they wouldn't be the first pro team in town. The NHL's Vegas Golden Knights took that mantle when they were recently unveiled to the hockey world. The hockey club will likely be the first to come across any stumbling blocks, but the Raiders would be working on a grander scale, considering their proposed $1.9-billion stadium would dwarf the 20,000-seat arena the Golden Knights will play in.

The pitfalls are unmistakable, what with the gambling and debauchery Las Vegas is known for, but with gambling becoming more and more ingrained in North American sporting culture, the time may be right for the NFL to lay down some roots in the desert.

Wherever they play, the Raiders should be competitive in the AFC West, and the legions of Raiders fans just may follow. After all, this will be the Raiders' third stop and they continue to own one of the best followings in the NFL. They'll have the benefit of the tourism dollars, but will Vegas be a winner when the honeymoon period wears off? And what if the Raiders regress to their 2003 to 2014 form?

Las Vegas would be the fourth-smallest market in the NFL. Although the Bay Area is booming, it makes perfect sense for the Raiders to follow the money. And Sin City has no shortage of that flowing through its casinos on any given night.

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