San Diego State has a lot to celebrate in 2022, but in between accolades and milestones the Aztecs must take care of business.
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After 50+ years of games in the cavernous San Diego Stadium, the Aztecs will finally play at home before a sold-out crowd.
San Diego, CA – For two seasons the Aztecs played their home games 113 miles north of SDSU’s campus in Carson, California. Now the Aztecs return home- to their TRUE Mission Valley home- to the brand new Snapdragon Stadium.
Prior to their temporary home of two years, Dignity Health Sports Park, the Aztecs played at SDCCU; formerly known as Qualcomm Stadium, formerly Jack Murphy Stadium, formerly San Diego Stadium. The Aztecs could never, EVER fill the cavernous 70,561 seat multi-sports venue, even when superstar future NFL Hall-of-Famer Marshall Faulk graced the field as tailback. Rarely could the Padres or Chargers sell out the monstrous stadium. It just was too damn big.
The”Murph,” as some called San Diego Stadium, indelibly left its mark. It was the only venue to host the Super Bowl and World Series in the same year (1998). Yet, it was an imperfect venue for Aztecs football.
Before San Diego Stadium: from 1935 to 1966 the Aztecs played on the Mesa in the Aztec Bowl. Thirty years later, in 1996, Viejas Arena was built literally into the center of the Aztec Bowl.
1966 would mark the last season the Aztecs sold out their own football venue, when maximum seating capacity was just 12,592. At the time, the Aztecs were seriously contemplating constructing a 45,000 seat stadium on campus, however San Diego Stadium was announced, and ultimately became the one-stop destination for the Padres, Chargers and Aztecs.
Going back even before 1935, the Aztecs played football at Balboa Stadium, dating back to the team’s inception 100 years ago- a time that even pre-dated the Aztecs spirit warrior and the scarlet and black university colors.
This season, after five-plus decades: Aztecs football hosts its own bespoke venue. $310,000,000 was spent on 35,000 seat Snapdragon Stadium. The stadium is designed to be expandable up to 55,000- large enough for an NFL team, or a major NCAA bowl game. The stadium represents a massive investment for the future of Aztecs football and SDSU Athletics.
Snapdragon Stadium will eventually be surrounded by a Mission Valley SDSU campus extension enabling the university to increase total enrollment from 36,000 to 50,000. …