San Diego Stadium
San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in San Diego, California. The stadium opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium and was known as Jack Murphy Stadium from 1981 to 1997. From 1997 to 2017, the stadium's naming rights were owned by San Diego-based telecommunications equipment company Qualcomm, and the stadium was known as Qualcomm Stadium or simply The Q. The naming rights expired on June 14, 2017, and were purchased by San Diego County Credit Union, renaming the facility as SDCCU Stadium on September 19, 2017; those naming rights expired in December 2020. Demolition of San Diego Stadium began in December 2020 with the last freestanding section of the stadium's superstructure felled by March 22, 2021. Following the demolition of San Diego Stadium, the San Diego State Aztecs' new Snapdragon Stadium, which opened in August 2022, was built in a different area of the parking lot.
The Q The Murph | |
Aerial view from the north in 2005 | |
San Diego Location in the United States San Diego Location in California | |
Former names | San Diego Stadium (1967–1980) Jack Murphy Stadium (1981–1997) Qualcomm Stadium (1997–2011, 2012–2017) Snapdragon Stadium (2011) SDCCU Stadium (2017–2020) |
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Address | 9449 Friars Road |
Location | San Diego, California, U.S. |
Coordinates | 32°46′59″N 117°7′10″W |
Public transit | San Diego Trolley Green Line at Stadium |
Owner | San Diego State University |
Operator | San Diego State University |
Capacity | 70,561 (Football, Chargers) 67,544 (Baseball) 54,000 (Football, Aztecs) |
Field size | Left field 330 (1969) 327 (1982) Left-center & Right-center 375 (1969) 370 (1982) Center field 420 (1969) 410 (1973) 420 (1978) 405 (1982) Right field 330 (1969) 327 (1982) 330 (1996) Backstop 80 feet (1969) 75 (1982) |
Surface | Bandera Bermuda Grass |
Construction | |
Broke ground | December 18, 1965 |
Opened | August 20, 1967 |
Closed | March 2020 |
Demolished | December 2020 – March 22, 2021 |
Construction cost | $27.75 million ($244 million in 2022 dollars) |
Architect | Frank L. Hope and Associates |
General contractor | Robertson/Larsen/Donovan |
Tenants | |
San Diego State Aztecs (NCAA) (1967–2019)
San Diego Padres (PCL) (1968)
San Diego 1904 FC (NISA) (2019) |
San Diego Stadium was the home of the Aztecs of San Diego State University from 1967 through 2019. One college football bowl game, the Holiday Bowl, was held in the stadium every December from 1978 through 2019. The stadium was also home to a second college bowl game, the Poinsettia Bowl, from 2005 until its discontinuation following the 2016 edition. It was also briefly the home of the San Diego Fleet of the Alliance of American Football in early 2019.
The stadium was the longtime home of two professional franchises: the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL) and the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Chargers played at the stadium from 1967 through the 2016 season, after which they moved to Los Angeles to become the Los Angeles Chargers. The Padres played home games at the stadium from their founding in 1969 through the 2003 season, then moved to Petco Park in downtown San Diego in 2004.
The stadium hosted three Super Bowls: XXII in 1988, XXXII in 1998, and XXXVII in 2003. It also hosted the 1978 and 1992 Major League Baseball All-Star Games, as well as the games of the 1996 and 1998 National League Division Series, the 1984 and 1998 National League Championship Series, and the 1984 and 1998 World Series. It was the only stadium ever to host both the Super Bowl and the World Series in the same year (1998), and it was one of three stadiums to host the World Series, the MLB All-Star Game, and the Super Bowl, along with the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles.
The stadium was located immediately northwest of the interchange of Interstates 8 and 15. The neighborhood surrounding the stadium is known as Mission Valley, in reference to the Mission San Diego de Alcalá, which is located to the east, and its placement in the valley of the San Diego River. The stadium was served by the Stadium station of the San Diego Trolley, accessible via the Green Line running toward Downtown San Diego to the west, and Santee to the east.