Qualcomm Stadium
Qualcomm Stadium, formerly known as San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium, is a multiple-use stadium in San Diego, California. It is the current home of the San Diego Chargers of the NFL and of the San Diego State University Aztecs college football team. It was the home until 2003 of the San Diego Padres in Major League Baseball.
In the early 1960’s, local sportswriter Jack Murphy began to build up support for a multipurpose stadium for San Diego. In November of 1965, a $27 million bond was passed allowing construction to begin on a stadium. Construction on the stadium began one month later. When completed, the facility was named San Diego Stadium.
The Chargers played the first game ever at the stadium on August 20, 1967. San Diego Stadium had a capacity of around 50,000; the three-tier grandstand was in the shape of a horseshoe, with the south end open. The Chargers were the main tenant of the stadium until 1969, when the major leagues expanded to add the San Diego Padres. After the death of Jack Murphy in 1981, San Diego Stadium was renamed San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium or simply Jack Murphy Stadium. The stadium remained basically the same until 1983. Over 9,000 bleachers were added to the lower deck on the open end of the stadium raising the capacity of San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium to 59,022. 16 years later the most substantial addition was completed at the stadium. In 1997, the stadium was fully enclosed, with the exception of where the scoreboard is located. Nearly 11,000 seats were added in readiness for the Super Bowl in 1998, bringing the capacity to over 71,000. Also in 1997, the facility was renamed Qualcomm Stadium after Qualcomm Corporation paid $18 million for the naming rights. In 2004, the Padres moved to Petco Park.
