San Diego State Football Stadium Closer to Approval

San Diego State University’s plans for a new football stadium on campus has been approved both in the design and financing stage by the California State University Board of Trustees, setting up the next step in the Aztecs’ plans to create a 35,000-seat stadium on campus.

Aztec Stadium, estimated to cost $310 million, will be funded through gifts as well as system-wide revenue bonds that will be paid back with revenue generated by the facility including ticket revenue, naming rights and concessions. The school says it will now continue to work with the city of San Diego toward a completed purchase and sales agreement. A voter referendum in 2018 allowed San Diego State to negotiate with the city over the land and an agreement between the school and San Diego City Council was reached in November for a price of $87.7 million.

“We are pleased that the trustees continue to share our vision for this project, as the construction of the stadium is a key first step allowing us to unlock the rest of the Mission Valley site plan,” said San Diego State University President Adela de la Torre. “Current events remind us that we need to approach every decision with intention. The board’s approval today means that we can move forward in our planning and deliberation, and advance Mission Valley as it makes the strongest sense for our students and for San Diego.”

The multiuse stadium will be located in the northwest corner of the Mission Valley site, which allows the school to continue to use the existing SDCCU Stadium while construction of the new stadium is completed. Once Aztec Stadium is built, a question will be the future of SDCCU Stadium, the former home of the San Diego Chargers and San Diego Padres, which still hosts the Holiday Bowl as well as — for now — Aztecs football. San Diego State has played at the site since it opened in 1967.

San Diego philanthropist Dianne Bashor donated $15 million to the university in December 2019 for construction of the new stadium; San Diego State will look to find a naming rights sponsor for the stadium but will name the playing surface Bashor Field.

“I am grateful to our Aztec community, which has already helped us raise more than $30 million toward the multiuse stadium project,” said San Diego State Director of Intercollegiate Athletics John David Wicker. “We recognize the unprecedented situation we find ourselves in right now, but continue to recognize that Mission Valley and the new multiuse stadium is a project that will benefit the entire region for generations to come.”