SD Stadium Update: Working the Numbers

Ideas are being floated and possible financing is being discussed

On Wednesday the NFL will hold a meeting between its finance committee and stadium committee to discuss possible relocation. The Raiders and their desire to move to Las Vegas will be discussed.

The Chargers and their option to move to Los Angeles, however, will not.

The Bolts will not be attending the meeting. They have until Sunday, January 15 to decide whether or not to take the Los Angeles option, stay in San Diego and work on a new stadium deal, or perhaps work out an extension on making a decision, perhaps the annual league meetings at the end of March.

Chargers Chairman Dean Spanos is still mulling the options and has just six more days to make the decision. His history suggests he will take as long as possible to make up his mind.

Meanwhile, Spanos and San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer have had a regular, consistent line of dialogue about working towards a new stadium solution in San Diego.

There have been rumors that the team has softened on its β€œNo Mission Valley” stance and is amenable to returning to Mission Valley. If that is true the only major sticking point remaining in getting a new stadium deal done in the Chargers home market continues to be the financing component.

The numbers are in flux, mostly because nobody can seem to agree on just how much a stadium will cost. Estimates range from less than $1 billion to $1.5 billion for the Mission Valley site. If the amount of money they get from PSL (Personal Seat License) sales and naming rights is factored in the Chargers could probably come up with around $350-$375 million in cash.

Spanos has asked the NFL to kick in more than the $300 million they have already offered up and the league likes the San Diego market enough to consider doing that. There has been talk that Rams owner Stan Kroenke, who has pockets deep enough to write a big check to help finance a new San Diego stadium, might be willing to do that to keep the L.A. market all to himself.

Once the final price tag for the new facility can be agreed upon then we can start to truly look at how much is still needed and if it is more feasible for Spanos to try and stay in San Diego or take the L.A. option.

If Spanos is truly paralyzed by this decision he still might not ask for an extension but the league might offer him one anyway with the heavy implication that he take it, giving him more time to work out a solution in San Diego.

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