“SDCCU Stadium” replaced Qualcomm as the name on San Diego’s 50-year-old landmark Tuesday with the unanimous approval of the City Council.

Councilman Scott Sherman, who represents Mission Valley and the stadium property, was absent.

The San Diego County Credit Union bid a one-time $500,000 fee for the naming rights, which will be in force only through the end of next year, when the city plans to close the stadium.

But real estate director Cybele Thompson said if the stadium remains open after that, the credit union can negotiate an extension and presumably pay an additional fee.


Fox Sports College Properties, which manages advertising at the stadium, will earn a 25 percent commission of $125,000 for arranging the name change through a bidding process.

Thompson said that a new commission and other elements of the stadium’s operations also would be subject to renegotiation.

Councilman David Alvarez said if there is a new extension to stadium use and the SDCCU name, he did not think the city should have to pay Fox Sports another 25 percent commission fee for the same name choice.

Fox receives a similar commission on all other advertising income generated at the stadium, Thompson said.


The city is spending about $12 million annually to keep the 71,000-seat stadium open but is discussing possible continued use with San Diego State University athletics until a replacement can be built for Aztec football.

The $375,000 paid by the credit union will go into the city hotel room tax account to offset other subsidies from that fund for stadium operations.

There were three other bidders:

Gemini Sports Group, a Phoenix marketing firm, submitted a $500,000 bid on behalf of its client, SportsYard, a fantasy sports gaming and tech company.

Mitek, a San Diego startup that developed a mobile app to use when depositing checks, bid $100,000 plus $575,000 in inkind services.

Another San Diego startup, Traction Video that produces videos, offered $1.25 million in inkind services but no cash payment. Its CEO, James McKinny, said he would have negotiated with the city to name the stadium either after its company or “Startup Stadium” to acknowledge the region’s startup sector.

SDCCU expects to install new signs, at its own cost, on the stadium within 30 days. A mockup shows a light-blue, all-caps “SDCCU” alongside the company sailboat logo.


Qualcomm, which paid the city $18 million in 1997 for naming rights as a way to bridge a gap the stadium expansion, did not submit a bid to extends its name.

Since the rights expired June 13, the name technically reverted to the original “San Diego Stadium.”

However, the credit union’s name will not automatically replace “Qualcomm” on Qualcomm Way signs for the street west of the stadium that is a northern extension of Texas Street.

That change requires Caltrans and other governmental action and is not proposed at this time.


Council members thanked the credit union for buying the naming rights but Councilman Mark Kersey said the new moniker “doesn’t really roll off the tongue.”

“We need a nickname,” he said. “The ‘ATM’ or something.”


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roger.showley@sduniontribune.com; (619) 293-1286; Twitter: @rogershowley