Chargers want funding for new stadium

The San Diego Chargers appear to be laying the groundwork on the idea of a new stadium, per the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The Chargers have played at Qualcomm (formerly Jack Murphy Stadium) since 1967, and Ken Derrett, the club's chief marketing officer says the antiquated facility prevents the city from being able to host major events in the off-season.

“We have a very diverse group of fans who merge every Sunday for a miniature Super Bowl,” Derrett said. “You probably have 750,000 tickets sold in a given year, and you’ve probably got 40,000 people coming from outside, spending money on taxis, on hotels, on that hot dog, on the parking, on the merchandise, putting money back into this community.”

While talks on a new stadium have yet to come to fruition, Derrett pointed to the Santa Clara situation in Northern California where the NFL kicked in $200 million and he said Chargers owner Dean Spanos could provide another $100 million for the project.

However, Derrett said a state-of-the-art facility might cost up to $1 billion, leaving a huge gap of up to $700 million that presumably would have to be picked up through taxes.

Of course, the other rumbling not mentioned in the report but always lurking regarding the Chargers and their stadium is that they could always be tempted to head a couple of hours north back to their original home - Los Angeles - if they don't get what they are looking for in San Diego.

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Terry McCormick covers the Titans for TitanInsider.com

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