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By Liz Alper
February 23, 2016 (San Diego) - The Chargers have decided to focus their efforts on a downtown stadium.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Chargers said, "The multi-use facility...would create an unparalleled entertainment and sports district that will host Super Bowls and will ideally be a permanent home for Comic-Con and a Comic-Con museum.
"For these reasons, the Chargers will begin collaborating immediately with the existing...citizens' coalition led by Donna Frye and JMI Realty...Our goal is to win voter approval in November 2016 for a downtown multi-use stadium/convention center facility..."
This comes after the Chargers were given one year by NFL owners to choose to move to Los Angeles and share a stadium with the (now Los Angeles) Rams, or stay here in San Diego.
City officials wanted the Chargers to build a new stadium next to existing Qualcomm Stadium in Mission Valley, but the team rejected that offer, saying that the Mission Valley site can be used for San Diego State athletics. But since Qualcomm will likely be demolished once a new stadium is built, the Aztecs will perhaps play downtown, on the former Qualcomm site, or in a smaller stadium on campus.
Chargers stadium consultant Fred Maas said the team will have to file the initiative with the County Clerk's office by March 24 in order to begin the process of collecting petition signatures to qualify for the general election ballot. The team is going to try and come up with a financial plan. The question is: how?
Meanwhile, Comic-Con International says they haven't had any interaction with the Chargers and were surprised to be mentioned in their statement.
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