Qualcomm Seeking Events That Can Draw Big Crowds
The lesson after last month's record-breaking turnout for a soccer match at Qualcomm Stadium wasn't missed by those who set up tours for international soccer matches.
"The fact that we almost sold out on a weekday night with a Mexican national team that wasn't playing many of its stars was a real eye-opener, and an indication of how strong a market this is for soccer," said Erik Stover, the stadium's general manager.
Promoters of the Feb. 28 match that Mexico won 3-1 against Venezuela anticipated 50,000 fans, but 63,000 showed up. It was the largest crowd ever to watch soccer in San Diego.
The results could mean games at Qualcomm, largely dormant following the end of the Chargers football season in January.
Among events on the calendar is a tour this summer by top-ranked Mexican club teams and a 2008 tour of top South American national teams, including Brazil and Argentina.
Stover has already discussed bringing the Mexican clubs, such as Club America of Mexico City and Chivas from Guadalajara, here as part of a planned tour, but nothing has been signed, he said.
Skipping San Diego
Paul Mendez, event manager for Soccer United Marketing, affiliated with Major League Soccer, said the MLS is also working on bringing some of the bigger name European club teams to the States in the summer/fall period, but it isn't likely these teams would stop in San Diego.
Part of the reason is most of these clubs, such as England's Manchester United or Italy's Inter Milan, prefer playing in the largest American cities. Also, MLS likes setting up games in cities with MLS franchises, which San Diego doesn't have.
Stover, who took over managing the city-owned stadium in late 2005, said he and his staff are constantly trying to find events to take up the void after football season and the summer season that was created in 2004 when the Padres moved to Petco Park.
An effort to market the stadium as a corporate party/event venue is starting to pay off, albeit in relatively tiny increments.
"Last year, during February and March we had five corporate events. This year we expect to have 15," Stover said.
A few of the organizations renting out part of the stadium in the coming weeks include Cox Communications, with 120 attendees, and LEAD San Diego, with 110 attendees.
"We won't close our deficit with these types of events, but our hope is that we'll land a big fish occasionally," he said.
In 2005, the venue got such a whopper when the stadium's naming rights owner, Qualcomm Inc., rented out the facility for its 20th anniversary party.
A Money Loser
But despite picking up more business contracts, Stover realizes he has an impossible task of balancing the stadium's $16 million annual budget.
The fact is the stadium that opened in 1967 is always going to lose money because it must pay annual debt service on bonds issued for the stadium's expansion, and receives far less in rents from events than it needs to pay its bills.
This year, the debt service on the 1997 stadium bonds is $5.7 million. The stadium gets only $2.5 million in rent from the Chargers, its biggest tenant.
The team used to pay rent based on ticket sales, but the lease was amended in 2004 after the team and city decided to eliminate the ticket guarantee clause.
Stover said had the old lease been in effect, the city would have collected a lot more, but he was unable to say how much.
Other events coming to Qualcomm in the near future are a circus, motorcycle and hot rod show and monthly used car sales.
In the summer, the stadium could get Street Scene, a music festival, but the promoter is looking to move the event to where there's a grass field, Stover said.
Asked what the life expectancy of Qualcomm Stadium might be, Stover hedged his bets.
"It's not going to crumble and fall down," he said. "Structurally, it's a sound facility. What you have to look at is the infrastructure inside: the electrical wiring, the water supply systems, the drainage, and things like the scoreboard and video boards."
###
