Chargers Offer to Pay More Rent in 2003

In an effort to bridge the impasse with the city of San Diego and pave the way for a stadium vote to be put on the ballot for 2006, the San Diego Chargers on Tuesday released the details of their proposed temporary Qualcomm Stadium lease.

The team has offered to immediately do away with the ticket guarantee, which requires the city to pay for all unsold general-admission tickets, and to pay $2 million in rent for the 2003 season. The rent last season was $880,000.

The Chargers also have suggested using binding arbitration to settle disputes over whether they met the financial requirements in March to trigger the renegotiation clause in their lease, and what termination fee the team would be required to pay under the current lease if a termination were to occur.

“We believe the public in San Diego deserves to see progress, and this is a way to break the logjam,” said Mark Fabiani, point man for Charger stadium issues. “We’re willing to put our positions to the test in binding arbitration.”

-- Sam Farmer