San Diego and Chargers Reach Qualcomm Deal
The city of San Diego and the Chargers have finalized a Qualcomm Stadium lease agreement that eliminates an unpopular ticket guarantee but gives the team the option of relocating after the 2008 season, a Charger spokesman confirmed Thursday.
“We’ve said from the very beginning that with the ticket guarantee in place, we had no shot of trying to get a new stadium built in San Diego,” team spokesman Mark Fabiani said. “This eliminates the things that were causing the bad feelings. Now it’s up to everyone involved to move forward.”
Lawyers have been working on the details of the lease for nearly two months, putting in writing an offer first proposed by San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy in April. Murphy’s proposal required the Chargers to drop their lawsuit against the city, do away with the 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 included 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 fixed the stadium rent at $2.5 million a year for the next decade, with an accelerated payment schedule for the following decade.
The proposal said the Chargers must forfeit their right to renegotiate their lease before 2008 and cannot negotiate with other cities before January 2007.
-- Sam Farmer
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NFL officials will talk with Pittsburgh Steeler running back Jerome Bettis to determine whether he has violated league rules by being involved in a proposed real estate development in Hays, Pa., that could include a horse track and slot machines.
NFL policy on gambling prohibits players from advertising or promoting activities “that can reasonably be perceived as constituting affiliation with or endorsement of gambling.”
Pro Basketball
Chamique Holdsclaw had 25 points and five rebounds to lead the Washington Mystics to a 69-64 victory over the Indiana Fever in front of 14,956 at Washington.
In other WNBA games:
Diana Taurasi had a career-high 29 points in front of 6,683 at Charlotte, N.C., to lead the Phoenix Mercury to a 71-59 victory over the Charlotte Sting.
Tangela Smith had 17 points to lead the Sacramento Monarchs to a 73-47 victory over the New York Liberty before 7,826 at Sacramento.
Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson each scored 20 points as the Seattle Storm rolled to a 76-52 victory over the San Antonio Silver Stars in front of 6,371 at Seattle.
Auto Racing
Jeff Gordon won the pole for Saturday’s Pepsi 400 with a lap of 198.659 mph at Daytona International Speedway.
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Mike Bliss grabbed the pole for tonight’s Winn-Dixie 250 Busch Series race with a lap of 181.969 at Daytona.
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Paul Tracy was awarded the provisional pole at the Cleveland Grand Prix when stewards determined Sebastien Bourdais blocked competitors during qualifying.
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Max Mosley will step down as president of Formula One’s governing body in October, the International Automobile Federation said. He has been president since 1993.
Miscellany
Auburn point guard Lewis Monroe received a release from his scholarship and plans to transfer, the third player to leave since Jeff Lebo replaced Cliff Ellis as coach. Forward Marco Killingsworth signed with Indiana and center Dwayne Curtis transferred to Mississippi.
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World time trial champion David Millar, already barred from the Tour de France, told a judge in Paris he used a performance-enhancing drug. He was placed under investigation as part of a probe into the alleged use of banned substances by the British rider’s Cofidis team.
