A recent grand jury report says San Diego continues to lose money on the management of the San Diego County Credit Union stadium in Mission Valley. A city council subcommittee responded to that report on Wednesday.
The city was hoping that when the Chargers moved to Los Angeles, it would finally be able to make money on the stadium. Because of agreements with the Chargers, most of the money that had been made through advertising, concession, parking and ticket sales went to the team.
When the Chargers left, the city contracted Fox Sports to take over advertising sales for the stadium. The San Diego College Bowl Association was contracted to sell skyboxes and other luxury suites. The grand jury investigated why the city contracted those services out to third parties.
The report found that the stadium staff should have been responsible for advertising and suite box sales. The city disagrees. City officials said the stadium staff didn't have the expertise to handle those sales. They also said most of the money made in the past year came from staffers booking money-making events.
"In fact by spending so much time on booking additional stadium events the city was able to garner $3.7 million in additional revenue above and beyond what was actually budgeted in fiscal year, budgeted for fiscal year 18," said Lisa Byrne from the city's office of the Independent Budget Analyst.
The grand jury recommended the city council make specific policies and rules to evaluate future contracts for the stadium. The city council and mayor have until mid-November to accept the recommendations or give reasons why they don't.
