Snapdragon Stadium was built adjacent to the former San Diego Stadium, which had been the home of the school's football program since the stadium opened in 1967, until it was demolished in 2020–2021.[7][8]
History
Planning
Following the announced departure of the NFL's Chargers from what was then SDCCU Stadium to the Los Angeles area in January 2017, focus began on building a new stadium for the Aztecs that was modern and the right size for the program. Over the course of the next nearly two years, the plan for what would become Snapdragon Stadium (known during its planning and early construction phases as Aztec Stadium) and the rest of the SDSU Mission Valley development (initially known as SDSU West) took shape. A competing redevelopment proposal surfaced, known as SoccerCity, which envisioned the SDCCU Stadium site being leased from the city and redeveloped with private funding if San Diego was awarded a Major League Soccer (MLS) team. Under this proposal, SDSU football would have the option of sharing the proposed smaller-capacity soccer stadium with the new MLS team. The SoccerCity proposal was placed on the November 2018 ballot in competition with the SDSU Mission Valley proposal, where the SDSU Mission Valley plan emerged victorious.[9][10]
On December 5, 2019, the school announced that it had received a $15 million gift from Dianne L. Bashor to help finance the new stadium, which led to its playing surface being named Bashor Field.[11]
On June 30, 2020, the city of San Diego approved the sale of the SDCCU Stadium site to San Diego State University and on August 10, 2020, the university officially took control of the property.[12] San Diego State bought the entire 135 acres (55 ha), including the existing stadium, from the city for $88 million. Groundbreaking on the new stadium took place on August 17, just one week after SDSU took control of the site.
Snapdragon Stadium under construction in November 2021
The entire $3.5 billion SDSU Mission Valley project includes housing, office and retail space, hotels, and eighty acres (32 ha) of parks and open space, including a 34-acre (14 ha) river park along the San Diego River on adjacent city property, and will be developed in phases over 10–15 years.[13] The stadium will seat 35,000 fans and is being built to support college football, non-football NCAA championship games, professional soccer, rugby, lacrosse, and special events such as concerts.[14][15] The stadium was designed to be expandable to a capacity of 55,000 (complete with a plan and renderings for such an expansion) or more to accommodate a prospective NFL return to San Diego and/or future needs of the Aztecs football team.[16]
On December 6, 2021, San Diego State announced a naming rights agreement with San Diego-based telecommunications company Qualcomm, who also owned the naming rights to the original stadium from 1997 to 2017. The stadium became known as Snapdragon Stadium, named after Qualcomm's Snapdragon brand of Systems on a chip (the original stadium had also been briefly renamed to Snapdragon Stadium in 2011).[17]
The stadium opened in 2022 for an Aztecs scrimmage on August 20. The Aztecs' first game was two weeks later on September 3, a 38–20 loss to the Arizona Wildcats.
On May 18, 2023, MLS announced San Diego has been awarded the league's 30th team (later named San Diego FC) and that the team will be playing at Snapdragon Stadium starting in 2025.[20]
Opening
Snapdragon Stadium opened for a SDSU scrimmage on August 20, 2022.[21] The first game in the stadium was played on September 3,[22] ending with the Aztecs being defeated 38–20 by the Arizona Wildcats.[23] The game occurred during a heat wave, resulting in heat illnesses among attendees that required the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department to send five ambulances and three fire engines to treat around 200 people, 20 of whom were hospitalized.[24][25] By kickoff, the game started when the temperature reached 100 °F (38 °C), with attendees retreating from the seating area and into shade. On social media, the stadium design was called into question by fans because of the lack of shade.[26]
On September 8, San Diego Fire-Rescue stated that the department did not receive a heat injury and illness plan from the university, having only received the medical plan two days before the game, and wrote that "it was evident that the sheer number of patients at the game quickly overwhelmed the EMS resources on site and required assistance from SDFD." Around 12:30 pm PDT (UTC−7), SDFD and EMS deputy chiefs considered asking the university to cancel the game but decided that doing so would not resolve the situation.[27]
Wave FC set a new NWSL attendance record when it debuted in the new stadium on September 17, 2022 against Angel City FC. By August 28, about three weeks before the game, over 27,000 tickets had been sold.[28] This total was comparable to the then-current league record of 27,278, set on August 29, 2021 when OL Reign played Portland Thorns FC at Lumen Field in Seattle as part of a doubleheader that also featured an MLS match between rivalsSeattle Sounders FC and the Portland Timbers.[29] The pre-sales for Wave FC's stadium debut had already surpassed the record for a standalone game of 25,218, set on August 11, 2019 when Thorns FC hosted the North Carolina Courage at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon.[30] On September 1, the team announced the game had sold out, based on a soccer capacity of 32,000,[31] and the official attendance for the game was announced as that number.[32]
San Diego Trolley
Green Line
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