Dive Brief:
- The San Diego Chargers have provided a glimpse into their plans for a $1.8 billion stadium and convention center in downtown San Diego, with a tentative opening date of 2022 for the $1 billion stadium component, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
- The team and the NFL will kick in $650 million for the stadium, and the team hopes to raise the remaining stadium and convention center funding through a 4% hotel tax increase. According to The Los Angeles Times, the deal requires the team to sign a 30-year lease and non-relocation agreement and pony up for any stadium cost overruns or future improvements.
- The team’s plans hinge on whether the stadium initiative and tax increase can win over voters in November, The Times reported. On the flip side, the Chargers still have plenty of time left on their one-year option to move to Los Angeles and share quarters with the Rams.
Dive Insight:
The Chargers have been open about their plans for a new stadium since last year. When the team put their bid in for a Los Angeles move, however, the city got busy and came up with a stadium-financing proposal in an effort to persuade the team to stay. It looks like the current deal is one the team and the city can live with, but now it’s up to November voters to decide whether it’s a deal they can approve.
If voters say no, then the likelihood that the Chargers will exercise their option to join the Rams in Los Angeles will skyrocket. The Rams new $3 billion stadium complex in Inglewood, CA, will feature a glass roof and new retail and hotel venues in the local area. Rams owner Stan Kroenke's plan — designed by architecture firm HKS and estimated to be complete in 2019 — would be the most expensive building of any sport, according to The New York Times.
Kroenke is also planning to build an entertainment district around the stadium. Inglewood is in line to receive $13 million to $14 million in sales tax revenue from stadium construction materials, and, once the facility opens for football games, the city should see an additional $16 million to $20 million in stadium revenue and commercial and housing development.
