If the golf balls say Los Angeles Chargers, you know it's close to official.

The Chargers have applied for a trademark for "Los Angeles Chargers" and "L.A. Chargers," according to the Los Angeles Times.

The application was submitted last week, two days after NFL owners approved the Rams' relocation plan to Inglewood, Calif.

"Signed by A.G. Spanos, the Chargers' president of business operations, the applications seek to cover a sprawling array of products including football helmets, ear muffs and golf balls," the Times reported.

Formal negotiations between the Rams and Chargers began on Monday, the Times added. The San Diego-based team has first option to join the Rams, which expires on Jan. 15, 2017. The invitation would be extended if San Diego gets enough votes to approve public financing for a new stadium.

If the Chargers refuse to move, the option then is passed to the Raiders for one year.

Before NFL owners award the relocation prize to the Rams, Chargers owner Dean Spanos insisted he had no intentions of negotiating with Rams owner Stan Kroenke about sharing the proposed Inglewood stadium that would be ready in 2019.

The Chargers and Raiders were partners in their own plan for a stadium project in Carson, Calif., that last month seemed to be the preferred choice in the league.

But shortly before the NFL owners met in Houston, another Times story indicated that the Rams plan likely would be the one passed and that the only contingency was how to get the Chargers involved with the Rams without making the San Diegans look as though they went behind the Raiders back on a deal with Kroenke.

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