Here’s One Option For A New Stadium

A few months ago, I remember posting on Facebook this article from UT-San Diego about a proposed plan to build a stadium, along with expanding the convention center in one project. The more I think about it, the more I like this plan, which was published back on August 9th. Charger fans and the opposition, hear me out before drawing your conclusions.

There’s no question that we need both a new stadium and to expand the convention center. I know that not everybody is onboard with a new stadium, or at least paying for one, but there’s another big problem: we need more convention space too. A few years ago, I remember that Comic-Con was on the verge of leaving San Diego because of the “small” convention space we have, and how the convention center is not keeping up with the convention’s growth over the past decade or so. And I don’t think I need to explain how catastrophic losing Comic-Con would be to San Diego.

The Chargers on the other hand, in my opinion, are equally as important. Sure, Charger fans might be a minority among the rest of the city, but a new stadium shouldn’t be benefitting just them, and it wouldn’t simply because of all of the opportunity that comes to this city if we build a new stadium.

More College Bowl Playoff/Championship Games, US National Soccer, NCAA Final Fours, and NFL Super Bowls are just some of the major possibilities that could be hosted here. We could be hosting major events year-round because of the weather, as well as the general “awesomeness” we have to offer as a city. That new stadium is what truly is keeping San Diego from taking a step to the next level in becoming a metropolis.

So on to the numbers…

JMI Realty proposed a $1.4 Billion project that included a new stadium, along with more convention space. That gigantic number seems like a lot of money (which it is), but it would be far less expensive to build them both jointly, rather than building them separately.

The original convention center expansion project was set to cost us an estimated $520 million dollars. It ultimately got struck down in court. With that deal being dead, what about using some of that (if not, all of that) towards a new stadium and added convention space together?

Mayor Kevin Falconer mentioned on the radio last week that all parties must come to the table in order to get a deal done, which is true. Whoever will benefit from this project should be invited to help pay for it. So here’s a breakdown of how much each could be putting into a new project like this:

City of San Diego: $520-$550 millionChargers: $300 millionNFL: $300 millionCounty of San Diego: $200 millionSDSU: $100 million

As an SDSU alum, it pains me to get them involved with all of this, but they would use the new stadium too. And losing Qualcomm Stadium would be catastrophic to the revitalized program (which is playing in their 5th straight bowl game, I might add). If the Chargers move, the city would have almost no use for Qualcomm, and would probably sell the land. And our Aztecs would simply have no place to play.

So how does the city come up with that money? If they were willing to spend $520 million on a potential convention center expansion, I think they could probably use some of those funds and put it towards this facility, as it will be a convention center expansion along with a new stadium.