I lived there for 8 years. The majority of the people in SD are transplants or transients. The majority of their fans are the definition of "fair weather". I can't tell you how many Padres games I've been to where there are quite literally 200 people there.... total. Better than 30% of the time there are numbers of opposing fans that are equal or greater to the number of Padres fans in attendance. Attendance for the Chargers games was so bad for a while there that they instituted a TV blackout unless ticket sales were at XX%. Talk about spurring your own fanbase. All the while tickets remained at a premium. The whole situation was a nightmare. I am glad to see any team that attempts to strong arm it's host city in to paying the majority for a nearly 1 billion dollar stadium. Now they are going to be squatting the Galaxy's stadium for at least the next year or two. That stadium was retrofit for Soccer some time ago and only holds maybe 30k. We have seen a handful of Galaxy games there and enjoy the venue....for soccer. That pitch will now be destroyed in about 3 seconds. :end rant:
I believe the blackout rule is league-wide. Not a San Diego ownership choice.
I think Southern California sports fans, in general, are as fair weather as fair weather can be. Personally, I found it to be the worst sports environment in the U.S. when I lived in that part of the country 15-20 years ago.