Chargers stadium in Oceanside would mean more than just football

When it's not providing home-field advantage for 10 games for the San Diego Chargers, a new NFL stadium in Oceanside could also be booked throughout the year with business meetings, weddings or other events, a team official said Monday.

Chargers' special counsel Mark Fabiani said the team plans to build top-of-the-line meeting rooms, restaurants and video screens at a new football stadium so it could be used 365 days a year.

"(Chargers' President) Dean Spanos always says he doesn't want to have one of the last of the current generations of stadiums, but the first in the next generation of stadiums," Fabiani said.

The Chargers want to leave aging Qualcomm Stadium, which doesn't have any meeting or conference space, within the next decade for a new state-of the art facility that could generate more money.

Team officials have said they want to stay in San Diego and have identified Chula Vista, National City and Oceanside as potential homes. Oceanside and team officials are exploring the possibility of building a stadium on a 70-plus-acre, city-owned golf course near Interstate 5 and Oceanside Boulevard.

Fabiani said the new stadium would not host many monster truck rallies or concerts because "there just aren't that many big events." He said the team would rely on smaller events to offset maintenance costs, and these events would bring families, business executives and tourists to Oceanside throughout the year.

Several city business and political leaders have said recently that North County needs more meeting and conference centers because the California Center for the Arts Escondido currently is the only facility that can accommodate more than 500 people for an event.

"I love the idea of having more meeting space," said Oceanside Chamber of Commerce Executive Director David Nydegger, one of several North County business leaders. "We are starved for meeting space in Oceanside."

Oceanside has been trying to attract a conference center or more meeting facilities for decades.

A market study completed by city consultants in September concluded a conference center that could accommodate about 600 people would succeed in Oceanside because "the facilities available lack adequate capacity, catering services, and technological capabilities and decor."

Four Seasons Aviara and the La Costa Resort and Spa, which are both in Carlsbad more than 10 miles from Oceanside, are the closest facilities that could accommodate conferences involving more than 250 people.

City Councilwoman Esther Sanchez said the city needs a conference center both to attract more visitors to the coastal city and to complement the city's plans for a downtown beach resort.

Sanchez said she does not want many big events that would lead to large amounts of traffic and noise to nearby neighborhoods.

Councilman Rocky Chavez said a stadium would need to be used for more than just 10 game days a year, but that 365 days a year would be too many.

Model stadiums

Fabiani has said that the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers have newer stadiums that serve as models for catering to more than just football.

The Patriots built Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., in 2002, and more than 300 events not related to sports take place each year at the facility, said David Pearlstein, executive director of corporate development for the team.

He said the first priority in building the stadium was to accommodate football fans on game days, but that planners also designed the stadium's club sections and suites so they could be used for other events.

He said the stadium was not designed to "compete against the Boston Convention Center" for major conferences, saying it holds events for groups of 50 people and larger in its two 60,000-square-foot meeting spaces.

"It isn't something we are just trying to do; it is something we need to do to pay the bills," Pearlstein said.

In addition to concerts, trade shows and professional soccer games, he said the stadium has become a popular spot for business meetings, holiday parties and bar mitzvahs.

The lure of holding an event in a room overlooking the football field has brought a lot of business to the stadium.

"We are the bar mitzvah capital of New England," joked Pearlstein. "What 13-year-old boy doesn't want a party here."

The team can do events the night before games, and Pearlstein said on many days there will be three or four different events.

During the football season, he said about 500 or 600 fans come to the stadium when the Patriots are playing on the road to watch the game.

"People want to come to the stadium," Pearlstein said.

The Green Bay Packers hosted about 1,300 events last year that didn't involve football at historic Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisc., according to team officials.

The stadium has an atrium with a restaurant, gift shops and meeting rooms with wireless Internet access available for corporate gatherings and social events.

Team officials said they host karate tournaments, auctions, fund-raisers and corporate meetings as well as special parties or events for fans. About 65 percent of the events are business-related while the rest are social or nonprofit events, according to team officials.

Fabiani said the Chargers hope to get the same kind of use out of their conference and meeting facilities, as well.

"Private operators are going to run it very efficiently and don't want the place to sit empty most of the year," Fabiani said. "Having a lot of activity would help the area around the stadium because people would want to shop, eat or stay in hotels near the stadium if it becomes destination."

Fabiani said it would cost about $800 million to build a new stadium and $200 million for road, sewer, drainage and transit improvements. The Chargers are looking for a city to provide the team land for the stadium and a development, saying revenue from a housing, business or entertainment development could help pay for the stadium.

Fabiani has said the Chargers would be willing to pay for the maintenance and operation costs of a stadium that would be owned by the city.

He said a city wouldn't have to pay for the upkeep of the facility, noting that the city of San Diego currently spends about $19 million a year maintaining Qualcomm Stadium.

Enrique Lopez, an Oceanside resident who lives about seven blocks away from the proposed stadium site, said he supports the idea of the Chargers coming to Oceanside and using the stadium throughout the year.

"If my company could rent out some part of the stadium for a Christmas party everyone would really like it," said Lopez. who works for a Vista business that makes equipment for plumbers. "It sounds like a good idea."