Should it get built, a Mission Valley soccer stadium will afford spectators a closer view of San Diego State football games than viewers will have of the Chargers at a Carson soccer stadium the next two NFL seasons.

Only 12 feet will separate the front of the main stands from the soccer sideline, said a partner of plan’s would-be overseers.

For Aztecs games the sidelines will shrink to conform to the football field, which is about 22 yards slimmer than a soccer pitch, but “because we’re so tight for soccer, it’s right-sized for football,” said Nick Stone of La Jolla- and San Mateo-based FS Investors group.

A 2020 opening is sought.


Former Los Angeles Galaxy player Landon Donovan, a supporter of the “SoccerCity” plan for Mission Valley, played scores of matches in the Carson venue to where the Chargers are headed.

Without jabbing his former home’s layout, he deemed San Diego’s design more intimate for spectators.

“It will be great,” he said Monday following a news conference in La Jolla.

A hallmark of the San Diego venue’s design, Stone said, is the “super-steep” angle of the stadium structure.


“It will be very loud over the (football) end zones,” Stone said.

Whereas the Chargers envisioned a synthetic surface for a downtown San Diego stadium, funding for which San Diego voters rejected in November, the Mission Valley surface will be grass.

And, grass is as it should be, said Donovan, the all-time scoring leader for the U.S. national team.

Loud. Fun. Small.


Those are the words planners and Donovan spoke of the venue, which would seat 18,000 to 22,000 for soccer and 28,000 to 32,000 for football.

In addition, the master plan sets aside 16 acres for a 62,000-seat NFL stadium, although, absent a participant, the window on that option would close five years into the development.

Whether the pitch becomes a pitch remains to be seen.

Nitty-gritty details will be rolled out this week and beyond.


If approved, the project won’t spur binocular sales.

Twelve feet is three feet shy of a free throw.

(Elsewhere: What team will employ Tony Romo next season? Find out here.)


Tom.Krasovic@SDUnionTribune.com; Twitter: SDUTKrasovic