Chargers Asking San Diego For $550 Million In Public Money For New Stadium

The San Diego Chargers have finally made their appeal for a new downtown stadium official, and according to San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts, the team requested $550 million in public money to get a deal done if they chose the city’s preferred site. That is a substantial increase above the $350 million the city and county have offered for a stadium in the Mission Valley area of town.

The Chargers have said they are willing to discuss all options on the table, but owner Dean Spanos clearly prefers a site downtown near Petco Park. Spanos envisions connecting a new stadium project with a convention center expansion, something that needs to happen if San Diego wants to continue hosting Comic-Con International.

While San Diego does have some money set aside for a potential stadium, raising an additional $200 million won’t be easy, especially without raising taxes on citizens. Any potential tax increase would then have to be put to a vote and pass by a two-thirds majority. The Chargers know that, so unless they have a creative solution for the city and county to come up with the money, the downtown proposal seems destined to fail.

The Mission Valley site seems like the team’s best chance to get a deal done. Given that the city owns the land, building there could commence almost immediately and would be much cheaper. If you take the $350 million offered by the city, add that to the $300 million the NFL has pledged and around $150 million in revenue from personal seat licences, the Chargers would have $800 million to put towards a new facility. Throw in the $550 million Spanos was willing to spend just to pack up the moving trucks to head to Los Angeles and you’ve got a $1.35 billion stadium project.

Given what he could do with that kind of money in that area of San Diego, I don’t get Spanos’ insistence on downtown.Yes, it would be wonderful to have a stadium on the water like the Padres do, but in Mission Valley he could build his own Chargers-centric village. The possibilities there are endless, while in downtown they seem limited. But Spanos and company apparently want an extra $200 million added to the city’s proposal for that site.

Negotiations are ongoing and will likely continue for weeks. No one knows how this thing will turn out, but the positive for Chargers fans is that the two sides are even talking.