Sports et Cetera : SDSU Negotiates Rent Reduction

The San Diego Stadium Authority Board has approved a reduction in rental terms with San Diego State for football games at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

The changes, approved by the board Thursday and sent to the City Council for its consideration, could save SDSU about $14,000 this year, said Jim Herrick, SDSU assistant athletic director for finance.

Herrick said the agreement is expected to cut in half a rent increase scheduled to take effect this year under provisions of a 10-year lease that expires in 1993. He said without the reduction, the school would have expected to pay about $130,000 in rent for its seven 1989 home games.

Herrick said agreement was also reached in three other areas: The authority agreed to exempt preferred seating donations from its rental fees and limit its share of cable television revenue, and the school agreed to a reduced seating configuration.

SDSU requested the rent reduction after the Chargers renegotiated provisions of their lease last year, said Jack McGrory, assistant city manager. The SDSU athletic department has been hurt the past two fiscal years by falling attendance at home football games and a rising deficit.