San Diego State has hopes of opening a new stadium in Mission Valley by 2022. If that ambitious goal is achieved they don't want to be the only ones playing in it.
An SDSU spokesperson says the university has had discussions with numerous professional sports organizations about the possibility of using a new facility along with Aztecs sports programs. The spokesperson did not specify which organizations have been contacted or who initiated the conversations.
The most likely candidates are Major League Soccer, the Alliance of American Football, and perhaps Major League Rugby. Two of those are already in San Diego. The other one is an interesting situation.
In November a campaign run by Friends of SDSU was able to defeat a competing Soccer City proposal at the ballot box, giving the school the chance to redevelop the land where SDCCU Stadium currently sits. One of the main selling points of that proposal was replacing the aging facility with a newer, smaller stadium (around 35,000 seats compared to nearly 70,000) for the Aztecs football program.
Soccer City was centered on bringing a new MLS franchise to America's Finest City. Early in the process the two parties spoke about the possibility of joining forces and playing in the stadium built by FS Investors. SDSU broke away and created their own measure.
If SDSU is able to build a new stadium by 2022 ... and that is a very large IF ... it's a good idea to see if anyone wants to play house. But the reality is MLS putting an expansion franchise in their facility is, right now, a long shot at best.
The biggest issue is finding an ownership group that wants to pay at least a $150 million expansion fee to own the team that is also willing to pay rent and lose out on revenue that comes from owning its own facility. Nick Stone, one of the driving forces behind Soccer City, declined to comment on whether or not the investment group he worked with would be interested in owning an MLS franchise under that dynamic.
The AAF is only really sure it's going to be around for two seasons so in 2022 the San Diego Fleet might not even exist anymore. A stadium that size is likely too large for the Legion of MLR.
Unless they can find a partner with the National Football League it's looking like San Diego State will be on its own in the stadium game.
