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Qualcomm Stadium, the current home of the San Diego Chargers, has been in need of upgrades for sometime. In fact, there has been talk about building a brand-spanking new football only stadium for nearly a decade.
There has been just one problem--money. Stadiums don't come cheap and no one wants to pay for them; not the millionaire/billionaire owner or the city that calls the team its own. Many teams and cities have struggled with this and San Diego is no different.
To compound the problem for San Diego the NFL has said that it will not award a Super Bowl to the city until it gets a new stadium.
With the right stadium there is a bundle of money to be made. Fans can even forgive an under-performing team like the Chargers if the experience of going to the game is good enough, but it is not looking good for the Chargers when it comes to getting it paid for.
So far owner Dean Spanos has talked about kicking in $100 million. The NFL has resurrected its stadium fund and would likely be chipping in $200 million. That leaves just $700 million and the city does not appear to be in any rush to raise it.
As long as talks have been going on you have to wonder what the Chargers are waiting for. Should the team be open about a desire to move that would probably be enough to prompt a city like Los Angeles to get its act together.
Maybe if that happened than San Diego might finally get its together.
Actually Spanos has to chip in 200 million to get the 200 million from the NFL's G4 fund (assuming there's 200 million left in the fund by the time the Chargers get around to asking for it). Right now they'd only be getting $100 million from the league.
ReplyDeleteThat makes sense, but it still leaves these guys dreadfully short of where they need to be.
DeleteWhy won't the people of San Diego pitch in for a new stadium!! What is the city asking for in taxes?? California, has one of the highest taxes in the all of U.S. of A.
ReplyDeletePersonally I think the owners need to be forking over at least half the money if not more, but San Diego needs to do something.
DeleteFirst of all, San Diego is notorious for this type of political BS, example: they've been talking about a "new airport" for the last 40 years, and Lindbergh Field just keeps getting worst. New stadium? That would actually bring "jobs" to the city, construction jobs, what a concept for a city that totes an unemployment rate of 14%. Second, you throw in the worst owner the Chargers have "ever" had who hasn't fielded a half way decent team since they took over, and there's your answer. Two stuborn entities with short pockets and NO vision for the city, and the fans in San Diego, who have supported this team since the 60's, their the ones who are suffering.
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