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QUALCOMM STADIUM

Not only has Qualcomm Stadium been the home of the San Diego Chargers for over four decades, it has hosted three Super Bowls.In the early 1960s sportswriter Jack Murphy began to build support for a multipurpose stadium in San Diego for the Chargers and to attract a profressional baseball team. The Chargers were established in 1960 and moved to San Diego from Los Angeles in 1961. From 1961 until 1966 the Chargers played at Balboa Stadium. In November 1965, a $27 million referendum was passed allowing construction to began on the stadium one month later. When completed, the facility was named San Diego Stadium.

The Chargers played their first game at the stadium on August 20, 1967. San Diego Stadium had a capacity of around 50,000 multicolored seats when it opened. The three tier grandstand was in the shape of a horseshoe, with the south end open. The team was the only  tenant of the stadium until 1969, when MLB granted San Diego a team, the Padres. After the death of Jack Murphy in 1981, San Diego Stadium was renamed in honor of him. The stadium remained basically the same until 1983. Over 9,000 bleachers were added to the lower deck on the open end of the stadium raising the capacity of Jack Murphy Stadium to 59,022. Sixteen years later the most substantial addition was completed at Jack Murphy Stadium. In 1997, Jack Murphy Stadium was fully enclosed, with the exception of where the scoreboard is located. Nearly 11,000 seats were added in readiness for the Super Bowl in 1998, bringing the capacity to over 71,000. Also in 1997, the facility was renamed Qualcomm Stadium after Qualcomm Corporation paid $18 million for the naming rights. All of the multicolored seats were replaced with new blue seats.  Qualcomm Stadium has several amenities including over 100 luxury suites, over 7,000 club seats, and the Charges Gold Club which is available to Charges season ticket holders allowing service at their seats and access to air conditioned lounges. The Chargers are once again the only tenant at Qualcomm Stadium after the Padres moved into their new ballpark, Petco Park, in 2004. Qualcomm Stadium has hosted three Super Bowls, Super Bowl XXII in 1988 between Washington and Denver, Super Bowl XXXII in 1998 between Denver and Green Bay and Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003 between Tampa Bay and Oakland. As one of the oldest stadiums in the NFL, the Chargers are continuing to try to build support for a new stadium. They have also been rumored to possibly relocate to Los Angeles.