Chargers Encouraged by Proposal
San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy extended an olive branch to the Chargers on Wednesday, offering a proposal that could keep the NFL team in that city through at least the 2008 season.
Murphy’s proposal requires that the Chargers drop their lawsuit against the city, do away with the controversial ticket guarantee that has cost taxpayers more than $36 million in unsold tickets since 1997 and surrender the right to the “trigger provision,” the renegotiation clause in their Qualcomm Stadium lease.
The offer includes no guarantee of the new stadium the Chargers covet, but it might help smooth the path for the franchise to get a stadium proposal on the ballot in 2006. The deal also fixes the stadium rent at $2.5 million a year for the next decade, with an accelerated payment schedule for the following decade.
The proposal says the Chargers must forfeit their right to renegotiate their lease before 2008 and cannot negotiate with other cities before January 2007.
Charger spokesman Mark Fabiani called the development “very encouraging,” and said the mayor’s proposal is similar to one made by a coalition of business and labor leaders in recent weeks. The Chargers endorsed that deal.
“We look forward to the public hearing next Monday and then to working together with the city to draft a new agreement based on the Business-Labor Coalition initiative and on the proposal made today by the city,” Fabiani said in an e-mail.
If the team leaves San Diego after 2008, it would have to pay a termination fee of more than $57 million to help retire bonds that helped pay for a previous stadium expansion.
“This is the last, best hope to reach agreement to what we think is fair to both sides,” Councilman Michael Zucchet said.
Another of the provisions said the city would receive 10% of the gate receipts for playoff games, to which the mayor said, “Do not snicker.”
The proposal must be approved by the City Council and formally presented to the Chargers.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
