Chargers official: New stadium needed for team's future

By: PAUL EAKINS - Staff Writer | Wednesday, February 21, 2007 11:28 PM PST ∞

San Diego Chargers Vice President Jim Steeg speaks at a Downtown Business Association luncheon at Ellen's Enchanted Gardens in Escondido on Wednesday.
WALDO NILO Staff Photographer
Order a copy of this photo
Visit our Photo Gallery

ESCONDIDO -- Times have changed during Jim Steeg's 31 years of working with the National Football League.

From his days as business manager of the Miami Dolphins to running the Super Bowl for 26 years to his current position as vice president of the San Diego Chargers, Steeg has seen professional football and the venues where the game is played evolve, he said Wednesday during a luncheon at Ellen's Enchanted Gardens, 328 S. Escondido Blvd.

The luncheon was sponsored by the Downtown Business Association of Escondido and Barratt American. Steeg said that the Chargers franchise also is evolving. One major step in that process will be the construction of a stadium, he said.

Oceanside, Chula Vista and National City have been identified as potential homes for the stadium, but Steeg didn't indicate which was the top contender.

Neither did he comment on the firing this month of coach Marty Schottenheimer and the hiring this week of Schottenheimer's replacement, Norv Turner, who was the offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers.

Steeg said he is trying to view leaving the 40-year-old Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego positively. Wherever the new stadium ends up, it will set a standard, he said.

"Rather than looking at it as the last of the old generation of stadiums, (I'm) trying to look at it as the first of the new generation of stadiums," Steeg said.

With new and more technology in use at football games for everything from media coverage to electronic scoreboards, Qualcomm eventually won't be able to meet the needs of the Chargers, particularly if San Diego hopes to ever again host the Super Bowl, he said.

Other changes are needed too, and hopefully will be implemented in the design of a new stadium, Steeg said. Among them would be unique, more affordable suites, because some companies are beginning to question whether the high cost of a suite is worth it, he said.

Steeg said the new stadium should have the facilities to allow it to be rented for special events. The new idea for football stadiums is "to make these venues live 365 days a year," he said.

Richard Tjaden, a marketing company associate who works and lives in Vista, said he had arrived at the luncheon skeptical of the need for a new stadium, especially in Oceanside. After hearing Steeg speak, he said he supported the idea of replacing Qualcomm.

"It's old. They need new equipment, new wiring, they need everything," Tjaden said.

Stadiums and football games have changed drastically through the years, Steeg told his audience.

He recalled years ago when NFL rules limited replays on the stadium screen to only once per play.

"Everybody was afraid if you show replays, you'll have riots," Steeg said.

During his 26 years in charge of the league's special events department, Steeg headed up all aspects of the Super Bowl.

He planned transportation, hotel accommodations, TV broadcasting, decorations and many other parts of the event, including the pregame and halftime shows -- "Although I take no credit for Janet Jackson," Steeg joked, referring to a 2004 Super Bowl halftime show in which the pop singer's breast was exposed on live national television.

The Chargers hired him in November 2004, and Steeg said he has tried to improve the game experience for fans and improve the team's popularity.

The number of Chargers season tickets and the sale of merchandise have increased significantly over the last two years, and the team has increased its marketing in Los Angeles and Orange County, he said. The organization also is reaching out to the Latino market, and especially the youth market that Steeg said is "the lifeblood of the franchise."

Many of those at the luncheon said they had come to hear about the new stadium or the new coach, although opinions were mixed on where the stadium should be.

Lenette Hewitt, vice president of sales and marketing for Barratt American, said she would like to see the stadium in Oceanside. She said she saw a connection between the current debate over the stadium's location and past issues in professional football that Steeg had discussed.

"I think it was interesting to hear about the evolution of the Super Bowl or the NFL itself, because so many people are afraid of change. ... But change is a good thing," Hewitt said.

-- Contact staff writer Paul Eakins at (760) 740-5420 or peakins@nctimes.com.

Next Previous

More Stories

Tags:

Bookmark and Share

Ads by Yahoo!

Advertisement

Pre-Registration Comments[-]Go to Top

Randy wrote on Feb 22, 2007 3:44 AM:Why do you need a separate football stadium for 8 games a year? Why wasn't Petco Park designed to handle both football and baseball? Then one stadium could be put to good use more days per year!

Mark wrote on Feb 22, 2007 8:53 AM:Randy, you just don't get it and never will. Wake up and join the 21st century. We're talking Super Bowls and your talking Toilet Bowls. This isn't about high school football and it's more than just a football stadium it's a chance to redevelop Oceanside into the city of the future instead of the run down city most of us have been trying to rebuild. Have you seen the new football stadiums in Glendale Arizona, Detroit, Pittsburg, Miami, etc.,not to mention the new Cowboys stadium? Seattle tore down the King Dome and built both a baseball stadium and football stadium in place of what was once considered a state of the art facility. Quit living in the past and face the fact that the future is coming no matter how long you keep riding your bicycle. It's not the 1950's anymore. We're planning on where this city will be in 2050.

Ed wrote on Feb 22, 2007 9:08 AM:Fine, the Chargers want a new stadium. Mr. Spanos, get out your check book, buy a parcel of land and pay ALL construction costs. This is your team and you collect the profits. Quit asking the taxpaying public to pick up the costs for YOUR stadium. Better yet, take your team along with AJ and your spiffy new coach and move out of state.

MIKE wrote on Feb 22, 2007 9:44 AM:GEOMETRY. BASEBALL NEEDS A ROUGHLY CIRCULAR PLAYING FIELD (INCLUDING FOUL TERRITORY) AND HENCE STADIUM. FOOTBALL NEEDS A RECTANGULAR FIELD AND THUS A MORE OR LESS OVAL STADIUM. THE TWO NEVER REALLY FIT TOGETHER WITHOUT A LOT OF WASTED SPACE AND RESULTING BAD SEATS FOR ONE OR BOTH SPORTS.

will wrote on Feb 22, 2007 10:56 AM:CHARGERS RULE!

I have to agree with the Chargers. wrote on Feb 22, 2007 11:32 AM:Two years ago I took a friend who had never been to a NFL professional football game at Qualcom. It was raining and that stadium was HORRIBLE. People had to put plastic bags over their feet and legs because water was that high. Then they would stand up to cheer above us and the water would come over the top and soak us! That stadium is really not any good any more.

Smart Growth wrote on Feb 22, 2007 1:36 PM:A new stadium with no parking and no seating would encourage everyone to stay home and watch the game on their big-screen TV. This would eliminate traffic problems, minimize land needs, and allow everybody an equal chance to see the game up-close and personal.

James wrote on Feb 22, 2007 2:01 PM:Hey Ed, I have a better idea, why don't you pick up your adolescent mind and get yourself out of state. Obviously, you have no clue about economics and how a stadium can benefit the county as well...seriously, please move you hayseed!

Mark is an idiot wrote on Feb 22, 2007 3:07 PM:I agree with Randy. Wasting millions of dollars to play a few games a year. The future of Oceanside? When did that plan become official? You obviously have too much time on your hands. The Dolts will choke with or without a new stadium. Face the facts!

I agree with Ed. wrote on Feb 22, 2007 3:25 PM:Why should tax dollars be spent to build a stadium that the vast majority of the people living in the county will never make use of? If the Chargers want a new stadium, they should foot the bill!

I Like Ed wrote on Feb 22, 2007 3:30 PM:Get out their checkbooks and pay their own way..what a concept. Go back to Chula Vista and cut a deal. Quit using us and go away.

RFuega wrote on Feb 22, 2007 6:00 PM:Hey!! People come on now, Let's get real. You have no control on what goes on in your Oceanside. When the city can't control the violence on the streets. The Chargers moving to Oceanside would be a great thing, for th communitee and the youth programs around town. Surely you guys are not doing anything about it.

Mark D wrote on Feb 23, 2007 7:50 AM:Major change in lifestyle, it will create a New Major Metropolis, and put pressure to remove single family homes for high rise offices and apartments. Remember they can’t build west because of the Pacific Ocean, they can’t build north because of Camp Pendleton. The city must take land east into areas with single family homes. The city and county have the right under the Eminent Domain laws to take your home, business, church and vacant land for any reason

To the one that agrees with Randy wrote on Feb 23, 2007 8:50 AM:Get YOUR facts straight. No one is proposing spending millions of dollars of tax payers money to build the stadium. You must not understand how economics work in the 21st century. The proposal is to take a piece of land that generates $80,000 a year for the city and turn it into a property that generates millions of dollars for the city as well as local businesses. The fact is that in recent polls, the MAJORITY of people in Oceanside understand and support this chance to rebuild and enhance Oceanside for years to come. If you don't like the Chargers, fine, but don't hold this city back again with your uninformed and outdated opinions.

Who are you people? wrote on Feb 23, 2007 2:23 PM:Three municipalities would not be vying for the stadium if their was not money and pestige in it for the comunity. The NFL, sports in general, and overall population are all expanding in growth - all of which is market value/potential. "Get out your check book"? The millions in revenue will far outway the costs of the stadium, not to mention attracting fortune 500 companies into the area, but I would bet if you were willing to give Spanos a tax break equivalent to the difference in expenditures assumed, he would gladly take you up on the offer and pay for the Stadium on his own. Of course, then you would just ... about how much money he was making. Either way, the Chargers will only be able to compete financially in the NFL for a few more years before the revenue differences of a 65,000 seat stadium vs. a 80,000 seat stadium force them out of town. Unfortunaletly the City Hall glad handers in SD ruined it for all of us - the original site, and development plan would have done more much more for the city than watching the team leave, but hey, that's our govt. for you. And that ... attorney..............

The voice of the younger generation wrote on Mar 14, 2008 12:15 AM:It sounds to me like most of you above are way misinformed and has no idea of the sheer economic weight of an NFL franchise especially one in a fair weather city. The NFL has stated that they would love to make San Diego a permanent city in the Super Bowl rotation along with Miami and New Orleans. This means BILLIONS of dollars being pumped into our local economy (and lets be honest, we need everything we can get). Also, there are reasons certain cities can't get it together enough to have an NFL franchise. L.A. has been unable because they, much like the City of San Diego have been unwilling to come up with a realistic and comprehensive plan for a new NFL facility. Finally, what are we going to do with the old Qualcomm site? Tear it down and turn it into more apartments in mission valley? Another mall? that's really going to be awesome for the downward spending economy. It's sad that our city government can't make the city good for the future instead of trying to put a band-aid on the canyon of problems that is the past city governments. Please, people of San Diego, please READ the articles that have hard facts about the staidum deals and take out the bias. You'll see that this is a win / win situation. You've got to give some money to make money. All the Chargers want is that land that the city is already leasing to them and have offered to take all the production costs of the stadium upon themselves. READ before you speak against it, not just repeating what Johnny/ Sally at the office said. See the moeny that this could prosper us and our wonderful city. I don't care if you aren't a football fan, and Mr. Spanos isn't really my favorite guy either, but this isn't about him. This is about the 47 years that this team has spent here, winning over our hearts (and a lot of the time breaking them), and providing us the chance to showcase America's Finest City on a world scale with 3 Super Bowls. I don't want to have to say to my children when I'm older "I remember when the Chargers played in San Diego." Please, wonderful people of San Diego, listen.

Registered Comments[-]Go to Top

Advertisement

Videos

Advertisement