Latest On Chargers’ Stadium Pursuit

In April, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell endorsed the idea of keeping the Chargers in San Diego and said the Super Bowl will return to the city if an initiative for a downtown stadium goes through. However, the prospect of hosting a Super Bowl isn’t nearly as enticing as it sounds and might not be much of an incentive to the city of San Diego, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link).

It costs a community anywhere from $50MM to $60MM in public and private funds to land a Super Bowl, a source told Cole, who adds that San Diego doesn’t have that type of money to bid on the game once – let alone on a regular basis. Thus, dangling the carrot of hosting the Super Bowl in front of the city won’t necessarily galvanize it to build a stadium, which would put the Chargers in further jeopardy of relocating after the upcoming season.

The Chargers, of course, could have bolted (no pun intended) with the Rams for Los Angeles during the winter, but they chose to give San Diego one more shot at a stadium agreement. The clock on a deal is ticking, though, as the Chargers’ chance to head to LA will expire on Jan. 15, 2017.

The Goodell-led NFL is willing to chip in $300MM ($100MM more than its usual policy) to help San Diego construct a stadium, and the Chargers’ plan calls for a combined $650MM to come from the team and the league, with an additional $350MM stemming from a 4 percent hike in the local hotel tax. That would add up to $1 billion, the amount necessary to build the stadium, though it remains to be seen if the city is receptive to the idea.