Chargers Blackouts: the Ultimate Insult to San Diego Taxpayers

The owners of the San Diego Chargers occasionally like to remind us how much money they have spent hunting for a new stadium in San Diego.

As the U-T put it last Sunday, it is now “well in excess of $10 million so far.”

“Qualcomm Stadium in Mission Valley has merely gotten 14 years older, and the Spanoses’ patience no doubt a little thinner,” wrote the U-T.

Poor guys. A giant government subsidy for a local business really should be processed more quickly.

But while the team’s owners, the Spanoses, might be spending a ton of money looking for a new subsidy, the family is not spending a comparatively tiny amount to avoid TV blackouts of its games.

And each time they enforce a blackout, it’s an insult to fans and taxpayers who are every year helping the owners generate wealth few of us can fathom.

This Sunday, we may see the second blackout of the year. As of Thursday, the Chargers were 3,000 tickets short.

If it happens, many will blame lackadaisical fans. But that isn’t fair. San Diego taxpayers spend millions every year supporting the team.

The Chargers have all kinds of means at their disposal to avoid blackouts. The team chooses not to exercise them.

Let’s review.

Ironically, one of the Chargers’ best arguments for a new stadium is how much taxpayers lose on the old one.

The amount is disputed, but we’ve determined that the city loses at least $12 million a year on Qualcomm Stadium. The Chargers put that number much higher.

Part of that comes from the $78 million renovation of Qualcomm in 1997 that the Spanoses demanded and received.

The city is paying off that debt every year.

The deal is complicated because the debt is wrapped up in a bunch of other debt. But in 2011, the city still owed $52 million.

It’s unclear what the Chargers are demanding from taxpayers now. They haven’t actually put a proposal in front of us for a decade.

But all signs point to them re-introducing a vision the team worked on in 2004 and 2005. In that vision, the Chargers and an investment partner would get the rights to develop the land around Qualcomm Stadium, make money and use some of that money to help build a new stadium.

The team may also suggest that the stadium have a retractable roof. This would give the city a new, enclosed arena and allow us to bulldoze the Sports Arena. Then, they would build homes or other things there, making more money and further helping balance the cost of a new stadium.

All total, the value of the assets the Chargers want from the city will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Which is why it’s so odd that the team would insult fans and taxpayers now with more blackouts.

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http://voiceofsandiego.org/2013/12/05/chargers-blackouts-the-ultimate-insult-to-san-diego-taxpayers/