After meeting their quota for petition signatures, the San Diego Chargers are finally moving forward with their effort to get a new stadium in downtown San Diego. The team announced on Saturday that the issue would indeed be on November’s ballot.
If all goes as planned, the Chargers will be staying in San Diego rather than making the move to Los Angeles. If the Chargers were to make a new home in Los Angeles, they would be neighboring the Los Angeles Rams, who also recently moved.
Chargers chairman Dean Spanos expressed his thanks to all who helped the stadium issue make the ballot this year:
“We gathered more than 110,000 signatures in less than six weeks, an extraordinary result that demonstrates the high level of community interest in a new multi-use stadium and convention center facility downtown,” Spanos stated. “I would again like to thank all of those who signed the petition along with the fan groups, labor organizations, and businesses large and small that helped with our effort.”
The project will cost a total of $1.8 billion, $300 million of which will come from the league. The remaining $1.15 billion will come from the city, raised by selling bonds to be paid back partially by hotel-tax revenue.
If the Chargers do not get their way with the new stadium in San Diego, there is a chance that the team will not relocate at all. The original plan back in January was for the Chargers to share a stadium with the Oakland Raiders in the city of Carson. But the NFL allowed the Rams to move, leaving the chargers with just a year to decide if they wanted to become the second team in L.A. If the Chargers do not use the option, the Raiders will have it the next year.
