The Chargers have chosen downtown.

“The kind of experience available building downtown far surpasses what is available in Mission Valley,” said Fred Maas, the local business and civic leader the Chargers appointed earlier this month to spearhead their stadium push.

The Chargers have an agreement in principle with the Los Angeles Rams to share their Inglewood stadium and have until January of 2017 to exercise that option should a stadium solution not be found in San Diego. The team announced on Jan. 29 it was staying in San Diego for at least the 2016 season and would try to get a stadium approved in that time.

The Chargers had been deciding in recent weeks between the two sites but have long preferred a joint stadium and convention center project in East Village. They will embark on that project with JMI Realty.


Maas said the Chargers are exploring multiple financing options but will have a citizens’ initiative ready for signatures by March 24 with the aim of getting a measure on the November ballot.

The team on Monday posted the following statement:

“We have spent the last month evaluating the leading San Diego stadium sites and financing proposals. During that time, led by Chargers Special Advisor Fred Maas, we have engaged in regular discussions with Mayor (Kevin) Faulconer, Supervisor (Ron) Roberts, City Attorney (Jan) Goldsmith, and City and County negotiators. And we have carefully evaluated the arguments made by the Mayor and others regarding the merits of the Mission Valley site. We agree that, in many respects, the arguments for Mission Valley are compelling.

“At the same time, we have considered the potential benefits to both the greater San Diego region and the Chargers of a multi-use stadium/convention center facility downtown. The multi-use facility, when combined with Petco Park, the existing Convention Center, the Gaslamp Quarter, and a revitalized East Village, would create an unparalleled entertainment and sports district that will host Super Bowls and will ideally be a permanent home for Comic-Con and a Comic-Con museum. All of our research demonstrates that voters are more likely to approve a multi-use facility that would generate economic activity on hundreds of days per year, including by attracting major sporting and convention events that San Diego cannot now host. The downtown multi-use facility would also free up the existing Mission Valley site for potential use by educational institutions such as San Diego State and UCSD, as well as for a large riverfront park.

“For these reasons, the Chargers will begin collaborating immediately with the existing diverse citizens’ coalition led by Donna Frye and JMI Realty that has already been formed in favor of a downtown convention center expansion and educational and recreational uses in Mission Valley. Our goal is to win voter approval in November 2016 for a downtown multi-use stadium/convention center facility and to facilitate the best possible community uses for the existing Mission Valley site. We will deliver regular reports to our fans and to the community about the progress we are making.

“We believe that a downtown multi-use facility will attract broad support from throughout our entire community. And we hope that, as our downtown proposal is developed and as the campaign for passage begins, those who have supported the Mission Valley site will keep an open mind and consider supporting what we believe is the best way to secure a permanent home for the Chargers in San Diego. “We are very grateful for all of the hard work that Mayor Faulconer, Supervisor Roberts and City Attorney Goldsmith have done on behalf of the City and County over the past few weeks and look forward to maintaining a dialogue as our plans move forward.”