SAN DIEGO -- The Chargers did not execute their annual option to opt out of their Qualcomm Stadium lease, meaning they will play in the venerable stadium for the 2014 season, the team announced this week.

The Chargers will continue to call San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium their home in 2014. AP Photo/Ric Tapia

Since 2007, the lease between the city of San Diego and the Chargers permitted the team to terminate it at any time between Feb. 1 and May 1 of each calendar year. The Chargers' decision not to opt out in 2014 was expected.

The Chargers have chosen to renew the lease each season, with the hope that the team can secure an agreement with the city to build a new stadium.

"The team is continuing to work, as we have for more than a decade, on stadium solutions in San Diego, and we will not be triggering the out clause in our lease in 2014," said Michael Fabiani, special counsel to Chargers president Dean Spanos and the point person for the team's effort to get a new stadium built.

The Chargers experienced improved fan support during the team's surprising postseason run in 2013, with just one game subject to a local blackout, compared to four in 2012. The team also recently told season-ticket holders that ticket prices will remain unchanged in 2014, the sixth time in seven years they have been kept flat.

The franchise is working to create more of a home-field advantage at Qualcomm Stadium. Since 2011, the Chargers are 13-11 at home. At several home games this year, large sections of the stadium were filled with the colors of the opposing team.