Category: Stadium

Happy new renderings day! Here’s what we learned

Aztecs football once again rolled up the rusty steel shutters to San Diego’s crumbling brutalist sports-tomb on Saturday afternoon, offering fans a chance to watch a Juwan Washington-less scrimmage and purchase phased out merchandise at a discount before it winds up on a TJ Maxx clearance rack next week. This year’s Fan Fest, however, also provided something exciting — a look into the (hopefully) not-too-distant future, when we all lavishly bask in the spoils of a victorious Battle For Mission Valley.

Fancy new renderings adorned the View level escalator near Gate E, providing fans the opportunity to filter past and look upon them in wonder, as though they were the Dead Sea Scrolls or the preserved body of V. I. Lenin. Here, comrades, have a look:

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Ah yeah, that’s the stuff.

The new watercolors, which replace the blah Populous renderings from Measure G, are by architect Gensler.  You might remember them from such previous Mission Valley renderings as SoccerCity’s proposed stadium. Kudos to Gensler for playing all sides and generally improving on the original vision considerably.

But what did we learn from these purty pictures, you ask?

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City Council approves lease extension for SDSU football at the unkillable concrete edifice

In an expected administrative move, the San Diego City Council on Monday approved a lease extension for San Diego State football at the former Qualcomm Stadium through 2020. The extension removes uncertainty for the university’s athletic department and for the Alliance of American Football, the new pro football league planning to play home games at San Diego’s former NFL venue in Spring 2019.

The motion to extend SDSU’s lease passed 6-1, with Mission Valley council member Scott Sherman (R-SoccerCity) the lone dissenting vote with two council members absent. Aside from Sherm’s usual water-carrying there did not appear to be much pushback from SoccerCity.

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SDSU and City of San Diego agree on new lease at STADIUM through 2020, despite bogus talking point

Roman amphitheater of Leptis Magna in Khoms, Libya built in 56 AD, or SDCCU Stadium, who can tell the difference really.

The San Diego State football Aztecs will likely play in Mission Valley through the 2020 football season — and almost certainly for a good while after that.

As reported by Voice of San Diego, SDSU and the City of San Diego have reached a tentative deal on a lease extension for Aztecs football at SDCCU Stadium through the end of the 2020 season. This gives San Diego State certainty on a place to play until one of three scenarios comes to pass:

  • SDSU West wins at the polls this fall and the university takes over the old hulk while building a new stadium.
  • SoccerCity wins at the polls this fall and the soccer stadium opens in 2021.
  • Both lose and a standard Request for Proposals (RFP) process, likely to include a new stadium, runs its course.

You’ll note none of these scenarios has SDSU football playing at Grossmont College or the ruins of Balboa Stadium, as some investor-affiliated social media personalities once snarkily predicted.

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How to improve SDSU football’s snoozer of a promo schedule

San Diego State football doesn’t often use fan giveaways as a marketing tool. I have a replica Kirk Morrison jersey somewhere and think I got a hat once or twice. If anything, it’s usually some garbage like a poster, magnet or key fob.

So it comes as no surprise that this year’s promotional schedule continues the tradition. There’s not a single thing listed as a giveaway, just a bunch of military appreciation nights, teacher recognition awards and whatnot. We would like to think that with some creativity, passion and a bit more cash, Aztec football’s promotional events could actually be a draw.

Here’s the 2018 promo schedule as it is, and maybe how it could be.

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SDSU unveils watercolors, price tag for proposed football stadium

Yesterday’s rollout of the proposed San Diego State Mission Valley Campus was only day one of Capital One Renderings Week!

Today it was Aztec Athletics’ turn to show off the design of the SDSU football stadium, and they were definitely not screwing around. The university put together a big to-do down on the field at SDCCU Stadium with huge printed renderings, a video presentation on a screen that was probably only a few inches smaller than the SDCCU jumbotron and athletic director J.D. Wicker striding around the stage in a black fleece like he was introducing a new smart phone with no headphone jack.

Take it away, J.D.!

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