The Chargers on Wednesday paid the City of San Diego $12.575 million for breaking the team’s lease at Qualcomm Stadium before it was due to expire in 2020, according to the mayor’s office.

The NFL franchise made clear that it was going to terminate the lease when team Chairman Dean Spanos announced in January he was moving the team to Los Angeles.

The payment finally severs the team’s ties to the city after 56 seasons.

It’s unclear how the city will use the money. Some want the funds to help pay off $38 million in remaining debt for two projects in the late 1990s: stadium renovations to add seats and luxury boxes, and construction of a training facility for the team on Murphy Canyon Road.


The Chargers will use facilities in Costa Mesa and will play their games at the StubHub Center in Carson until they can move in as a tenant in the Los Angeles Rams’ stadium being built in Inglewood.

The money was paid via wire transfer and the transaction was spelled out in a two-paragraph letter signed in blue ink by Chargers Chairman Dean Spanos, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Qualcomm site is being considered for a variety of things, including a Major League Soccer stadium and commercial and residential development, San Diego State University housing and facilities or, potentially, a stadium for another NFL team.

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