When the Rams kick off against Washington at the Coliseum on Sunday afternoon, somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000 fans will be there to watch in a stadium that seats more than 90,000.

At some point, someone will innocently take a crowd shot picture, as is the norm across the sports world these days. That photo will get shared on social media and attendance geeks from one end of the country to the other will begin what’s become a weekly debate 10 weekends a year.

“See, Los Angeles doesn’t care about the Rams and the NFL,” a bunch of fingers will hastily type.

But the fingers lack nuance, perspective or context.

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While Chargers stumble, 25,000 fans stage high-energy party

Video: Dramatic drone’s eye view of Chargers’ StubHub Center home Some 15 miles away in Carson, at nearly the same time, the Chargers will play their first home game as members of the Los Angeles community against the Miami Dolphins. The official capacity of their temporary stadium, the StubHub Center, is 27,000. The announced crowd will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 25,000+, a figure you might as well get used to because it will be roughly the same number most of the season.

Some people will look at it and howl.

“The Chargers can’t even sell out a 27,000-seat stadium,” their voices will scream. “They’ll never succeed in L.A.”

Again, the screams lack nuance, perspective and context.

Especially given the long-play approach each team is taking in Los Angeles.

Upon relocating here from St. Louis and San Diego, the Rams and Chargers understood the challenges they faced finding their long-term place among a crowded sports landscape. And they understood that three factors would ultimately play the biggest role: Creating an L.A. identity, moving into the state-of-the-art $2.6 billion venue being built by Rams owner Stan Kroenke and consistently fielding compelling, entertaining football teams.

“It’s not something that will happen in a year or two,” said Chargers owner Dean Spanos. “It’s a process that will take years. And we understand that.”

As for the attendance this year, some context is needed.

The Chargers quickly sold out their season-ticket allotment at the 27,000-seat StubHub Center upon landing in L.A. and they have a long waiting list ready to come aboard when they move into the new stadium they’ll share with the Rams in Inglewood in 2020.

As far as the attendance this year, they won’t officially announce a sellout of 27,000 at SubHub Center for various reasons.

Not all of the ADA accommodated seats StubHub Center is legally bound to provide will be sold, and the Chargers don’t count their allotment of comp tickets given to employees or players or business partners among sold tickets.

And from time to time – Sunday’s game being a case in point – the “hold” tickets they set aside for the visiting team won’t all be sold after being released back to the box office for public use.

That makes the Chargers a lot like plenty of other teams across the NFL, many of which deal with the same ticket situations in their venues. It’s just that it looks a whole lot different when a 75,000-seat venue is announced as 72,818 compared to a 27,000 set stadium being announced as 25,638.

That seems to fly over so many heads.

It’s a lazy – and in some cases gleeful – manner in which some people are jumping to premature conclusions about L.A.’s passion for the NFL and the long-range success of the Rams and the Chargers.

Wait for the game-changing stadium they’ll soon share in Inglewood in 2020. Meanwhile both play in temporary stadiums that present challenges.

Both franchises are working to establish themselves in a city whose hearts, minds, souls and devotion aren’t easily, frivolously or immediately surrendered.

You have to work for all that here in Los Angeles. But once you get us, you got us.

The payoff of hitting it big in L.A. far outweighs whatever challenges stand in the way of that jackpot.

The Rams have a leg up on the Chargers in that regard, having played in the Los Angeles area from 1946 to 1994. And even though they surrendered their standing alongside the Lakers and Dodgers and USC football by moving away to St. Louis for 21 years, a strong and passionate fan-base remained intact and were waiting with open arms when the Rams returned.

Unfortunately the Rams delivered a 4-12 season in 2016 that, incredibly, looked even worse on the field then it does just looking at the record.

It was the worst possible look for a team making a triumphant return, and it turned away many casual fans who had jumped on board last year only to jump right off watching too much bad football while sitting in the intense heat of an outdated Coliseum that, frankly, falls short of satisfying contemporary fans accustomed to a more comfortable environment.

The crowd of 50,000 or so that showed up for the Rams’ season opener last Sunday against the Colts is a reflection of the product last year and the less than ideal conditions of the 94-year-old Coliseum. The attendance this Sunday will reflect the same. It’s going to take a few more performances like last week’s 46-9 win over the Colts before 70,000 or more fans start packing the Coliseum.

The Rams heard loud and clear from their season-ticket holders about their misgivings. Many fans told them they’ll monitor things from home for the time being and, provided the Rams make improvements, maybe take another plunge at some point this year.

Others have told them they’ll be there when the new stadium opens but, for now, the Coliseum experience just isn’t up to snuff.

The reaction was predictable.

The Rams aren’t in a position – yet – to deliver a really bad season and expect Los Angeles to follow them into the following year.

The Lakers or Dodgers can count on their fans to always stick with them through the thick and thin. It takes time to get to that point.

The Rams can’t do anything about what happened last year and can do only so much to improve the fan experience at the Coliseum.

What they can do is exactly what they’ve been doing since the end of last season: Purge themselves of the St. Louis baggage and rebuild their brand and identity in a way that reflects the glamorous city they call home.

The hiring of offensive-minded Sean McVay and the emergence of second-year quarterback Jared Goff will be critical in that process. If the Rams hit home runs with the McVay hire and the drafting of Goff – and create a fun, exciting offense and compelling, relevant team in the process – they will be perfectly positioned not only in L.A., but nationally.

“It’s our job to put out a good product for the fans and then hopefully after time, if it is that good product that we work so hard to try to put out there, then the support will come,” McVay said.

The Chargers are in a completely different situation in that they have no real previous history in Los Angeles – aside from one year here in the old AFL back in 1960. They’ve been LA’s San Diego neighbors the last 56 years. And frankly, there was no major clamor for them to move here.

In some ways they’re fortunate to play at StubHub Center the next three years as it gives them sufficient time to build their brand and base ahead of the move to the 75,000-seat stadium in Inglewood in 2020. If they field consistently compelling teams, that base will be built.

Kroenke’s Taj Mahal represents the very reason both teams relocated to Los Angeles and, provided both offer a compelling product, will be the luxurious, gleaming vantage point L.A. fans will eventually flock over the years to watch both teams play.

If 10 years from now the Inglewood Stadium is consistently half full and the TV ratings for the Rams and Chargers is lagging, then there is a problem.

Given the history of the L.A. market that seems dubious.