Chargers Stay in San Diego

Mayor Jerry Sanders and San Diego Chargers owner Dean Spanos vowed today to keep working together to build a downtown stadium, and said the team would play at Qualcomm Stadium this fall.

Spanos has repeatedly refused to exercise his team's exit provision in a contract with the city. The provision allows the Chargers to opt out of the deal between Feb. 1 and April 30 and play their games elsewhere.

In a joint statement, Sanders and Spanos said, "The city of San Diego and the Chargers continue to work closely together to explore publicly acceptable ways to build a Super Bowl-quality stadium on the bus maintenance yard site in the East Village of downtown San Diego.

"To give this ongoing process every chance to succeed, the Chargers have announced that the team will not trigger the lease's termination clause in 2012. Both the mayor's office and the Chargers look forward to continuing their joint efforts to build a multi-use stadium that will benefit the entire region."

Both sides have been looking for a way to finance the new facility, which Spanos has wanted for a decade, in a way that would pass a public vote. They're hoping to place a measure on the November ballot.

The alternative home mentioned the most for the Chargers is Los Angeles, where there are competing proposals to build a stadium.

In a radio interview last week, Spanos said he had no interest in either of the Los Angeles projects. It was widely reported recently that Spanos and Philip Anschutz, whose firm AEG wants to construct a stadium adjacent to the Los Angeles Convention Center, do not get along well.

Mark Fabiani, the Chargers point man on stadium issues, told the U-T San Diego the pair have a "contentious relationship."

—City News Service