The San Diego Chargers' quest for a new stadium has stretched over 13 years, and involved four mayors, a few interim mayors and two task forces. Now San Diegans may have to decide if they want to go long on a new facility or take a knee and let the team go.
Public Forum
The meeting is from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Qualcomm Stadium Club lounge. The nine-member task force will first hear up to 90 minutes of public comment on the location for a new stadium, followed by 90 minutes of comments on ways to fund it.
A rally in support of keeping the team in San Diego is scheduled for 5 p.m.
Mayor Kevin Faulconer tasked nine volunteers with the job of finding a place to put a new stadium and how to finance it. They've been meeting behind closed doors since the group was announced in late January but decided to hear from the public on Monday at an open forum.
San Diegans will have three hours to tell the task force where they want a new stadium and how they want to pay for it — or if they want to pay for it at all.
We've gathered a reading list and highlighted important facts from each story.
"Chargers, Raiders will jointly pursue an NFL stadium in Carson," Los Angeles Times
Just days after the task force held a meeting with Chargers special counsel Mark Fabiani in February, the team announced plans to develop a new stadium in Los Angeles County with the Oakland Raiders. They had already purchased the land and found an architect.
The Chargers and Raiders will continue to seek public subsidies for new stadiums in their home markets, but they are developing a detailed proposal for a privately financed Los Angeles venue in the event they can't get deals done in San Diego and Oakland by the end of this year, according to the teams.
Following the announcement, the Citizens' Stadium Advisory Group appointed by Faulconer said it would move up its deadline from the fall to May.
"Inglewood council approves NFL stadium plan amid big community support," Los Angeles Times
The team's chief spokesman on getting the Bolts a new stadium, Mark Fabiani, said the Chargers' joint proposal with the Raiders was in response to another NFL team owner's plan to move into the Los Angeles market. St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke unveiled plans in early January to fund and build his own stadium in Inglewood. By late February, the Inglewood City Council OK'd the plan.
An economic impact report commissioned by the city estimated the privately funded stadium with open-air sides and a clear retractable roof could be the most expensive in U.S. sports history: $1.86 billion.
"How the NFL Regulates Franchise Relocation (Or Tries To)," Voice of San Diego
Despite advances by the Chargers, Raiders and Kroenke, the NFL has the ultimate decision regarding a team's relocation. There's a bit more to it than just asking the professional sports league to give its blessing, but the Bolts may be on their way to meeting the requirements.
The policies and procedures list 12 “Factors That May Be Considered In Evaluating The Proposed Transfer” of a team to a new city. None would appear to bar a potential Chargers relocation.
"New NFL team would likely have little economic impact," KPCC
Whether any team or teams make the jump to the Los Angeles region, an economic boost isn't likely to follow. Just take it from Temple University's Michael Leeds, a professor who specializes in sports economics.
Leeds studied Chicago — as big a sports town as there is — with five major teams.
“If every sports team in Chicago were to suddenly disappear, the impact on the Chicago economy would be a fraction of 1 percent,” said Leeds.
Meanwhile, the Citizens' Stadium Advisory Group continues to [secretly] debate the best location for a new stadium in San Diego. But a memo recently cast doubt on one of the two sites the group is supposed to consider.
A downtown Chargers stadium could be delayed by up to seven years because of site complications revealed by the region's bus agency.
The Metropolitan Transit System says it could take that long to clear the preferred site at 16th Street and Imperial Avenue.
"Supervisor Horn Gives San Diego Stadium Task Force Something To Consider," KPBS News
The advisory group must also find a way to pay for a new facility. While Fabiani says the larger market in Los Angeles makes it easier for the team to sell personal seat licenses to fund a new stadium, the same can't be done in the smaller San Diego market. The Chargers are willing to put in up to $400 million for a new stadium here, but estimates show costs could top $1 billion. Raising taxes could help close that funding gap, but that'd take two-thirds voter approval — a high standard to meet.
San Diego County Supervisors Chairman Bill Horn suggested the county could help.
"I believe if the county could get involved, we might be able to put in some revenue bonds, something like that," he told KPBS Midday Edition. "But I would have to say to my taxpayers, 'You’re not going to have to pay for this.' These are gonna have to be from bonds that will pay for themselves."
"County loan suggested for stadium," U-T San Diego
Later, county Supervisor Ron Roberts elaborated on what kind of assistance the county could provide. He explained some details — but not many — in a meeting with the task force.
Roberts said a new stadium — or vastly renovated Qualcomm — could be surrounded by residential and commercial development that would "kick off a lot of new taxes."
In the meantime, the county could possibly front the funds to get construction going, Roberts said.
The funding idea is similar to what the city's first stadium task force suggested in 2003, said land use attorney David Watson, who chaired the committee.
In the final report, the group selected option four.
In this option, the City would lease the 166-acre site to the Chargers for construction of a new stadium, community park and river-front park, and potential other new development. The Chargers would be responsible for all stadium costs and entitlement processing for the stadium, parks and other development.
But Watson said just a few months after the task force issued its final report, news of the city's pension crisis broke and the Chargers stadium issue was set on the back burner amid the subsequent financial stress.
"The question becomes, 'How do you finance a project without imposing a new tax or taking money out of the general fund?'" he told KPBS last week. "And I’m sure that the current task force is looking at the fact that the city may not have a lot of cash laying around, but they have 166 acres."
"Sen. Block suggests SDSU take over Chargers site," U-T San Diego
If the Chargers do leave, Sen. Marty Block, D-San Diego, has at least one idea about what to do with the team's 47-year-old stadium.
Block said if the Chargers leave Qualcomm, the SDSU Aztecs will not be able to play there because the city will likely pursue redevelopment that does not include the present stadium.
But that reuse opens an opportunity for the land-poor university, whose 300-acre campus on Montezuma Mesa is busting at the seams with more than 31,000 students.
