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Snapdragon Stadium is a
multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a design philosophy that stres ...
in
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
, California, located on the campus of
San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...
(SDSU). It is the home of the San Diego State Aztecs football team of the Mountain West Conference (MW), San Diego FC of
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...
(MLS), and San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Known during its planning and early construction phases as Aztec Stadium, ground was broken on August 17, 2020, and the stadium opened on August 19, 2022. It is located at SDSU Mission Valley, a 166-acre (67 ha) noncontiguous expansion parcel west of the main campus. The stadium is accessible from the main campus via the San Diego Trolley at SDSU Transit Center. The venue was built adjacent to the demolished
San Diego Stadium San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in San Diego, California, United States. Opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium; it was renamed Jack Murphy Stadium for sportswriter Jack Murphy (sportswriter), Jack Murphy from 1981 to 1997. From 1997 t ...
, which had been the home of the school's football program since the stadium opened in
1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
until it was razed in 2020–2021.


History

Following the announced departure of the NFL's Chargers from what was then SDCCU Stadium to the Greater Los Angeles area in January 2017, focus began on building a new stadium for the Aztecs that was modern and the right size for the program. Over the course of the next nearly two years, the plan for what would become Snapdragon Stadium (known during its planning and early construction phases as Aztec Stadium) and the rest of the SDSU Mission Valley development (initially known as SDSU West) took shape. A competing redevelopment proposal surfaced, known as SoccerCity, which envisioned the SDCCU Stadium site being leased from the city and redeveloped with private funding if San Diego was awarded a
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...
(MLS) team. Under this proposal, SDSU football would have the option of sharing the proposed smaller-capacity soccer stadium with the new MLS team. The SoccerCity proposal was placed on the November 2018 ballot in competition with the SDSU Mission Valley proposal, where the SDSU Mission Valley plan emerged victorious. On December 5, 2019, the school announced that it had received a $15 million gift from Dianne L. Bashor to help finance the new stadium, which led to its playing surface being named Bashor Field. On June 30, 2020, the City of San Diego approved the sale of the SDCCU Stadium site to San Diego State University and on August 10, 2020, the university officially took control of the property. San Diego State bought the entire , including the existing stadium, from the city for $88 million. Groundbreaking on the new stadium took place on August 17, just one week after SDSU took control of the site. The entire $3.5 billion SDSU Mission Valley project includes housing, office and retail space, hotels, and of parks and open space, including a river park along the San Diego River on adjacent city property, and will be developed in phases over 10–15 years. The stadium will seat 35,000 fans and is being built to support college football, non-football NCAA championship games, professional soccer, rugby, lacrosse, and special events such as concerts. The stadium was designed to be expandable to a capacity of 55,000 (complete with a plan and renderings for such an expansion) or more to accommodate a prospective NFL return to San Diego and/or future needs of the Aztecs football team. On December 6, 2021, San Diego State announced a
naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...
agreement with San Diego–based telecommunications company
Qualcomm Qualcomm Incorporated () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software and services related to wireless techn ...
, who also owned the naming rights to the original stadium from 1997 to 2017. The stadium became known as Snapdragon Stadium, named after Qualcomm's Snapdragon brand of systems on a chip (the original stadium had also been briefly renamed to Snapdragon Stadium in 2011). The stadium opened in 2022 for an Aztecs scrimmage on August 20. The Aztecs' first game was two weeks later on September 3, a 38–20 loss to the Arizona Wildcats. On December 15, 2021, San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) announced it would move to Snapdragon Stadium starting in September 2022 following the stadium's completion; the club began its inaugural 2022 season at Torero Stadium at the
University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...
. San Diego Wave FC set a new NWSL attendance record when it debuted in the new stadium on September 17, 2022 against
Angel City FC Angel City Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The formation of the team was announced on July 21, 2020; it beg ...
. By August 28, about three weeks before the game, over 27,000 tickets had been sold. This total was comparable to the then-current league record of 27,278, set on August 29, 2021 when OL Reign played
Portland Thorns FC Portland Thorns FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL ...
at Lumen Field in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
as part of a doubleheader that also featured an MLS match between rivals
Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...
and the Portland Timbers. The pre-sales for the Wave's stadium debut had already surpassed the record for a standalone game of 25,218, set on August 11, 2019 when Thorns FC hosted the North Carolina Courage at Providence Park in
Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
. On September 1, the team announced the game had sold out, based on a soccer capacity of 32,000, and the official attendance for the game was announced as that number. On February 2, 2022, the San Diego Legion of Major League Rugby (MLR) announced Snapdragon Stadium to be their new home beginning in 2023. On May 18, 2023, MLS announced that San Diego had been awarded the league's 30th team (later named San Diego FC) and that the team would be playing at Snapdragon Stadium starting in 2025. The club signed a 20-year lease with the stadium. San Diego FC played its first game at the stadium on March 1, 2025 against St. Louis City SC, a 0–0 tie in front of 34,506 fans. This marked the largest crowd for a sporting event in the stadium's history. On November 19, 2024, the San Diego Legion announced plans to leave Snapdragon Stadium for Torero Stadium on the campus of the University of San Diego. Playoff games may be hosted at Snapdragon Stadium depending on demand.


Opening

Snapdragon Stadium opened for a SDSU scrimmage on August 20, 2022. The first game in the stadium was played on September 3, ending with the Aztecs being defeated 38–20 by the Arizona Wildcats. The game occurred during a
heat wave A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...
, resulting in heat illnesses among attendees that required the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department to send five
ambulance An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to ...
s and three
fire engines A fire engine or fire truck (also spelled firetruck) is a vehicle, usually a specially designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to ...
to treat around 200 people, 20 of whom were hospitalized. By kickoff, the game started when the temperature reached , with attendees retreating from the seating area and into shade. On social media, the stadium design was called into question by fans because of the lack of shade. On September 8, San Diego Fire-Rescue stated that the department did not receive a heat injury and illness plan from the university, having only received the medical plan two days before the game, and wrote that "it was evident that the sheer number of patients at the game quickly overwhelmed the EMS resources on site and required assistance from SDFD." Around 12:30 pm PDT ( UTC−7), SDFD and EMS deputy chiefs considered asking the university to cancel the game but decided that doing so would not resolve the situation.


Year by year


Events


Sports


Soccer

Snapdragon Stadium has hosted San Diego State Aztecs women's soccer and men's soccer matches. On November 7, 2023,
CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...
announced that inaugural final of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup would be held at Snapdragon Stadium on March 10, 2024.


Lacrosse

Snapdragon Stadium has hosted San Diego State Aztecs women's lacrosse matches in 2023 and 2024.


= 2023 NLL Stadium Showdown

= On December 6, 2022, the
National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NLL is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...
(NLL) announced that the San Diego Seals would host the NLL's first-ever box lacrosse game held outdoors on March 4, 2023. The game, which became known as the NLL Stadium Showdown, saw the Seals beat the Las Vegas Desert Dogs 15–12.


= 2023 World Lacrosse Championship

= In January 2022,
World Lacrosse World Lacrosse (WL), formerly the Federation of International Lacrosse, is the international governing body of lacrosse, responsible for the men's, women's, and indoor versions of the sport. It was established in 2008 by the merger of the prev ...
announced that San Diego would host the 2023 World Lacrosse Championship, with Snapdragon Stadium to be the primary venue. The opening ceremonies and opening game with Steve Aoki as the halftime performer, semifinals, bronze medal game, and gold medal game were held at Snapdragon. All other games were held at Torero Stadium on the campus of the
University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...
and three additional fields at the SDSU Sports Deck.


Rugby union


= 2031 and 2033 Rugby World Cup

= San Diego is among the cities being considered for hosting matches during the 2031 Men's Rugby World Cup and 2033 Women's Rugby World Cup.


Motorsports

Since 2023, Snapdragon Stadium has hosted rounds of Monster Jam and
AMA Supercross Championship The AMA Supercross Championship (commercially known as Monster Energy AMA Supercross) is an American motorcycle racing series. Founded by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1974, the AMA Supercross Championship races are held from ...
. In January 2023, the stadium hosted Monster Jam for the first time on January 7–8 and 14–15. SDSU has been in talks with NASCAR about hosting a race in Snapdragon Stadium, according to insiders at SDSU. On January 21, 2023, the stadium hosted its first
AMA Supercross Championship The AMA Supercross Championship (commercially known as Monster Energy AMA Supercross) is an American motorcycle racing series. Founded by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1974, the AMA Supercross Championship races are held from ...
event.


Holiday Bowl

On June 11, 2024, it was announced that the Holiday Bowl would be moving from Petco Park to Snapdragon Stadium.


Concerts

On June 2-4, 2023, the Re:SET Concert Series was held at Thrive Park, located outside of Snapdragon Stadium. The outdoor concert series was headlined by
LCD Soundsystem LCD Soundsystem is an American Dance-punk#Contemporary dance-punk, dance-punk revival band from Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002 by James Murphy (electronic musician), James Murphy, of DFA Records. The band comprises Murphy (vocals ...
, boygenius, and Steve Lacy. On July 13 and 14, 2024, Thrive Park hosted the Holo Holo Music Festival. It was headlined by J Boog and Maoli, respectively. EDM hometown artists ISOxo and Knock2 headlined ISOKnock, a two-day festival, on December 7 and 8, 2024 at Thrive Park, that featured support from Madeon, RL Grime, Peekaboo, Brutalismus 3000, and more.


Gallery

File:Snapdragon Stadium exterior-Night stadium.jpg, Snapdragon Stadium at night File:Snapdragon Stadium exterior-Night facade.jpg, The stadium's façade at night File:Snapdragon Stadium interior-Night end zone 1.jpg, View of field during a game File:Snapdragon Stadium interior-Night Club area 1.jpg, An interior lounge


See also

*
List of NCAA Division I FBS football stadiums The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As of the 2024 season, there are 1 ...


References


External links

* {{Portal bar, American football, California San Diego FC San Diego Wave FC San Diego Legion 2022 establishments in California American football venues in California College lacrosse venues in the United States College soccer venues in California Holiday Bowl Lacrosse venues in California Major League Rugby stadiums Music venues in California Motorsport venues in California National Women's Soccer League stadiums NCAA bowl game venues Qualcomm Rugby union stadiums in San Diego San Diego State Aztecs football venues Soccer venues in California Sports venues completed in 2022 Sports venues in San Diego Venues of the 2028 Summer Olympics