What happened to Qualcomm Stadium?
San Diego State bought the 135-acre Mission Valley site for $86.2 million in 2020 and demolished the stadium, finishing in March 2021. Snapdragon Stadium opened on the site in September 2022.
- Sold to
- San Diego State
- Price
- $86.2 million
- Demolition finished
- March 22, 2021
- On the site now
- Snapdragon Stadium
Council approved July 1, 2020
About 135 acres
Final section felled
Opened September 3, 2022
The short version
- SDSU bought the roughly 135-acre Mission Valley site for $86.2 million, approved by City Council on July 1, 2020.
- Demolition ran from August 2020, with the final section brought down on March 22, 2021.
- Snapdragon Stadium opened on the site on September 3, 2022 — 35,000 seats, about $310 million, owned by SDSU.
- The building had three names in its life: San Diego Stadium, San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, then Qualcomm Stadium.
- Snapdragon is roughly half the old stadium's football capacity, and SDSU describes it as expandable for NFL football.
It is gone — genuinely, completely gone. The building that hosted three Super Bowls, two World Series and 35 seasons of Padres baseball was demolished, and a new stadium stands roughly where it did.
From Qualcomm to Snapdragon
Fifty-four years for the first building. The second one went up in about two.
The three names
| Years | Name |
|---|---|
| 1967–1980 | San Diego Stadium |
| 1981–1996 | San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium |
| 1997–2017 | Qualcomm Stadium |
| 2017–2020 | SDCCU Stadium |
One building, four names. Locals of a certain age still call it the Murph.
Jack Murphy was the San Diego Union sports editor who campaigned for the stadium to be built and for the city to get a major-league baseball team. The 1981 renaming was for him. Qualcomm bought the naming rights in 1997, which is why most people outside San Diego know it by that name.
The sale and the demolition
After the Chargers left in 2017, the site's future went to the ballot and then to negotiation. San Diego State bought the roughly 135-acre Mission Valley parcel for $86.2 million, with City Council approving the sale on July 1, 2020 and escrow closing that August. Demolition work began in August 2020 and the final standing section came down on March 22, 2021.
Snapdragon, and why it's so much smaller
35,000
Snapdragon capacity
Opened September 2022
~$310m
Construction cost
Owned by SDSU
~70,000
The old stadium held
At its football configuration
Snapdragon is about half the size of what it replaced, which is the right size for college football and professional soccer and the wrong size for the NFL. SDSU describes it as expandable for NFL football — but that is a design note, not a plan, and no official source frames the smaller capacity as a deliberate rejection of a return. We are not going to put a motive in anyone's mouth.
It now hosts SDSU Aztecs football, San Diego FC of MLS, San Diego Wave FC of the NWSL, the Holiday Bowl and concerts.
SOURCES
Everything above traces back to one of these. Follow them — if one has changed and we haven't, that's our mistake, not yours.
NBC 7 San Diego · July 1, 2020
The City Council approval, the $86.2 million price and the approximately 135-acre site.
NBC 7 San Diego · March 22, 2021
That the final standing section was demolished on that date.
- PrimarySnapdragon Stadium
San Diego State University Athletics · Checked September 30, 2026
The September 3, 2022 opening, 35,000 capacity, approximately $310 million cost and SDSU ownership.
- PrimarySDSU Mission Valley — FAQ
San Diego State University · Checked September 30, 2026
That the stadium is described as multi-use and expandable for NFL football, and how it was funded.