The city of San Diego has introduced a plan to finance construction of a new stadium to keep the Chargers in town and prevent them from bolting to Los Angeles.
The Citizens Stadium Advisory Group, a task force appointed by San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, laid out the details Monday for building a new $1.1 billion facility next to Qualcomm Stadium, the Chargers' home since 1967 and the NFL's second-oldest venue behind O.co Coliseum in Oakland. The group spent the past four months developing the plan and held a press conference ahead of this week's NFL owners meetings in San Francisco.
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To pay for the stadium in a city wracked with financial woes over the past decade, the plan calls for more than dozen funding sources to exceed $1.4 billion, including $300 million from the Chargers, $200 million from the NFL through its guaranteed loan program and more than $100 million through the sale of personal seat licenses. The Chargers would provide another $173 million in bondable construction capital through paying rent over 30 years.
In addition, the city and San Diego County would both contribute $121 million in funding with another $225 million coming from the sale of 75 acres of city-owned land to a developer to build a hotel, restaurants and retail shops next to the stadium site. The city's revenue sources would extend to rent paid through San Diego State University football games and two college bowl games, plus ticket and parking surcharges from all events held at the stadium.
The task force stressed that its plan does not rely on tax increases, tax revenues from the related development or city dollars to help pay for construction.
“We believe the plan we’ve developed is fair for everybody — the city, the county, the taxpayers and the team,” task force chair Adam Day said, estimating that a new stadium would increase the team’s revenue $25 million per year.
The plan calls for a stadium to break ground no later than 2018 and open for the 2020 NFL season.
There were mixed reactions over the plan depending on which newspaper you picked up this morning.
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In San Diego, sports columnist Nick Canepa applauded the city's best intentions to come up with a solution to an issue that's gone unresolved over the past 12 years after multiple stadium proposals failed to materialize.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, where the Chargers have proposed building a two-team stadium with the Oakland Raiders, Times columnist Michael Hitzlik rips the plan for circumventing taxpayer approval for the stadium project.
To its credit, U-T San Diego, the city's paper, did point to potential obstacles with the plan, including the Chargers' contribution of $300 million, which is $100 million more than the team has said it would pitch in for construction. The report estimated the Chargers could recoup some of their investment by selling the stadium's naming rights for up to $165 million over 20 years.
The plan needs some fine-tuning but it's a good starting point or ramping up negotiations with the Chargers.
“This is not a perfect plan — I don’t expect that either the city or the team will accept it 100 percent," Day said. "It’s a solid foundation for future negotiations.”
The task force released some initial images provided by veteran sports architect Dan Meis. The group also consulted with HKS, the same designer of the new Minnesota Vikings stadium, as well as AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
Construction estimates were provided by three companies, AECOM, owner of Hunt Construction, plus Turner Construction and Clark Construction, the firm that helped build Petco Park, home of the Padres.