The 20-year naming rights deal for Qualcomm Stadium expired on Tuesday, but a city spokesman said there are no immediate plans to tear down signs or officially rename the stadium.

City officials and Qualcomm have had at least one recent meeting to discuss potentially extending the deal, but the city spokesman said no decisions had been made on Wednesday.

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The appeal and value of the 50-year-old stadium’s naming rights have decreased with its advancing age and the departure in January of the Chargers to the Los Angeles area.


The SoccerCity citizens’ initiative, which aims to redevelop the site into a retail and housing project with a soccer stadium, also complicates any efforts to negotiate a new naming rights deal.

The City Council is scheduled on Monday to decide whether to approve the SoccerCity plan or send it to voters, most likely in November 2018.

The city’s leases for the stadium with the San Diego State Aztecs and the Holiday Bowl end after the 2018 football season, 18 months from now.

Changing the name without a new deal could create hassles with outdated stationery, brochures and confusion among residents and potential users of the stadium, such as monster truck shows and international soccer games.


The Chargers paid the city $12.575 million this winter to break the team’s lease at the 70,000-seat stadium before it was due to expire in 2020.

Qualcomm, a telecommunications company headquartered in Sorrento Valley, gave the city an $18 million lump-sum payment in 1997 to cover part of $78 million in stadium renovations requested by the Chargers.

Those renovations helped San Diego land a Super Bowl in January 2003, the third and possibly final time the city hosted that event.

Some have characterized the value of Qualcomm’s contribution as $54 million, because receiving the $18 million all at once helped the city avoid selling bonds for the renovation project that would have been paid off with roughly $36 million in interest.


The lump-sum payment was unusual for stadium naming rights deals, which more typically include annual payments throughout the partnership.

The stadium, which opened as San Diego Stadium in 1967, was renamed Jack Murphy Stadium in 1981 shortly after the death of Murphy, a San Diego Union sports editor and columnist.

The name change to Qualcomm Stadium included a plan to also use the words “Jack Murphy Field,” but that has happened rarely in recent years.


david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick