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San Diego sends plan for new Chargers stadium to NFL

A fan shares his feelings from the stands as the Chargers play the Miami Dolphins in what could be the team's final game in San Diego, on Dec. 20.

A fan shares his feelings from the stands as the Chargers play the Miami Dolphins in what could be the team’s final game in San Diego, on Dec. 20.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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San Diego submitted a $1.1-billion proposal to build a new stadium for the Chargers to the NFL on Wednesday, the deadline for three home markets to make their final pitches to retain their teams.

St. Louis sent the league a plan Tuesday for a $1.1-billion riverfront venue for the Rams. Oakland, which doesn’t have a formal proposal, wrote a letter outlining its strengths as a market and stadium concepts it could present to the Raiders.

“All three submissions are generally consistent with our most recent discussions with public officials and task forces,” the NFL said in a statement. “We appreciate the leadership that public officials have demonstrated on behalf of three cities. There is a great deal of information for the three teams and all of NFL ownership to review and consider.”

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The deadline is the latest step in the two-decade effort to return the NFL to Los Angeles.

The Rams back a stadium project in Inglewood; the Chargers and Raiders want to build a stadium in Carson. The teams can apply for relocation as soon as Jan. 4.

The NFL’s Committee on L.A. Opportunities meets in New York next week. The league’s 32 owners will gather for a special meeting Jan. 12 and 13 in Houston, where they could vote on the competing projects.

San Diego’s 41-page letter to the NFL outlined a previously released plan that calls for the city and county to contribute $350 million toward a new stadium, contingent on a public vote next year.

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In a statement, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer called the proposal “fair and viable.”

The letter defended the city’s efforts to secure a new stadium and repeatedly blamed the Chargers, who walked away from negotiations in June, for the inability to reach an accord.

The Chargers don’t believe voters will approve the plan based on polling the team conducted in August. They also believe an environmental impact report for the potential stadium was rushed and leaves the concept vulnerable to litigation.

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Mark Fabiani, point man on stadium issues for the Chargers, said the letter contains nothing new so the team has nothing new to add.

Projected to be completed in 2019 on the Mission Valley site of the current Qualcomm Stadium, the new concept would require at least $363 million from the Chargers — including revenue from naming rights — and another $187 million in personal seat licenses.

nathan.fenno@latimes.com

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