Qualcomm Stadium was San Diego’s do-everything sports cathedral for more than five decades — a single Mission Valley bowl that hosted NFL football, MLB baseball, college football, three Super Bowls, and two World Series, all under four different names. If you’re trying to sort out whether it was called Jack Murphy Stadium, Qualcomm Stadium, or SDCCU Stadium, how many people it held, or what stands on the site today, here’s the complete picture.
Opened August 20, 1967, and demolished in 2021, the stadium’s identity shifted with sponsorship deals and civic tributes even as its role stayed constant: the shared home field for the Chargers, Padres, and San Diego State Aztecs. Below is a full rundown of its stats, its record-setting sports history, the concerts and events that filled it beyond game days, and what San Diego State built in its place.
Quick Answer
Qualcomm Stadium was a 70,561-seat multi-purpose stadium in San Diego’s Mission Valley, open from 1967 to 2020 under four names: San Diego Stadium, Jack Murphy Stadium, Qualcomm Stadium, and SDCCU Stadium. It hosted the NFL’s Chargers, MLB’s Padres, and SDSU’s Aztecs, plus three Super Bowls, two MLB All-Star Games, and two World Series, before being demolished by March 2021 to make way for SDSU Mission Valley and Snapdragon Stadium.
The Four Names of Qualcomm Stadium: A Timeline
The venue carried four official names across its lifetime, each marking a distinct era. It opened as San Diego Stadium in 1967. In September 1980, following the death of longtime San Diego Union sportswriter Jack Murphy — who had championed building the stadium in the first place — the city renamed it San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, commonly shortened to Jack Murphy Stadium.
In 1997, Qualcomm Corporation paid roughly $18 million for naming rights, and it became Qualcomm Stadium, the name most fans still use today. When that naming-rights deal expired in 2017, San Diego County Credit Union took over, renaming it SDCCU Stadium for the venue’s final three years of operation, through its closure in March 2020.
How Many People Did Qualcomm Stadium Hold? Capacity & Design
Capacity grew in stages as the stadium expanded. It opened in 1967 with roughly 50,000 seats. A 1983 expansion added around 9,000 bleacher seats, pushing capacity to about 59,022. Ahead of Super Bowl XXXII in 1998, the city fully enclosed the stadium’s open south end and added nearly 11,000 more seats, bringing final football capacity to 70,561 (67,544 configured for baseball).
Architecturally, the stadium was a Brutalist, three-tier ‘octorad’ bowl designed by Frank L. Hope and Associates and built for about $27.75 million — roughly $268 million in today’s dollars. Its convertible playing surface used Bandera Bermuda grass and could be reconfigured between football and baseball layouts, which is what made it practical to share among three separate tenants for decades.
Three Teams, Three Super Bowls, and Two World Series
Qualcomm Stadium is one of a small handful of American venues to host three Super Bowls: Super Bowl XXII (January 1988), Super Bowl XXXII (January 1998), and Super Bowl XXXVII (January 2003) — the last Super Bowl ever played at a true multi-purpose stadium built for both football and baseball.
Its baseball resume is just as deep. The Padres reached the World Series twice while playing there, in 1984 and 1998, and the stadium also hosted two MLB All-Star Games, in 1978 and 1992. The overlap between the 1998 World Series and Super Bowl XXXII earlier that same January remains a distinction no other American stadium has matched: hosting both a Super Bowl and a World Series in the same calendar year.
Concerts and Other Landmark Events
Beyond football and baseball, the stadium was San Diego’s default arena for stadium-scale concerts and civic events. The Rolling Stones played there three times (1981, 1994, and 1998), and U2 headlined multiple tours, including stops in 1992 and 1997. Pink Floyd, Beyoncé and Jay-Z (2018), and dozens of other major acts also played the venue over the decades.
It doubled as a civic gathering space in moments of crisis: during the 2003 Cedar Fire, one of the largest wildfires in California history at the time, the stadium served as an emergency evacuation and shelter center for thousands of displaced San Diegans. It also hosted annual AMA Supercross races for decades and American Idol open-call auditions in 2007.
Final Years and Demolition
The stadium’s tenants departed one by one. The Padres left for Petco Park in 2004. The Chargers played their final game there in the 2016 season before relocating to Los Angeles. The Aztecs stayed the longest, playing their last game in the stadium in 2019 before moving into Snapdragon Stadium.
SDCCU Stadium hosted its final public events in early March 2020, just before COVID-19 shutdowns began, and never reopened. San Diego State University purchased the 135-acre Mission Valley site for $88 million in 2020. Demolition crews began work that December, and the last freestanding section of the stadium came down on March 22, 2021.
What Replaced Qualcomm Stadium: SDSU Mission Valley
The site is now SDSU Mission Valley, a mixed-use campus expansion that includes housing, office and retail space, a hotel, a river park, and roughly 80 acres of open space, built out over roughly a decade. Snapdragon Stadium, a 35,000-seat venue built adjacent to the old stadium footprint, opened in August 2022 and now hosts the Aztecs, San Diego’s MLS club San Diego FC, and concerts — effectively continuing Qualcomm Stadium’s multi-purpose role on a smaller, modern scale.
Qualcomm Stadium San Diego FAQs
What were all the names of Qualcomm Stadium?
The stadium had four official names: San Diego Stadium (1967–1980), Jack Murphy Stadium (1980–1997), Qualcomm Stadium (1997–2017), and SDCCU Stadium (2017–2020). ‘Qualcomm’ remains the name most people use after the company paid roughly $18 million for naming rights in 1997.
How many people did Qualcomm Stadium hold?
At its final capacity, Qualcomm Stadium held 70,561 for football and 67,544 for baseball. It opened in 1967 with about 50,000 seats and was expanded twice, in 1983 and 1997, to reach its final size.
Which Super Bowls were held at Qualcomm Stadium?
Three Super Bowls were played there: Super Bowl XXII in January 1988, Super Bowl XXXII in January 1998, and Super Bowl XXXVII in January 2003.
Did Qualcomm Stadium host a World Series and MLB All-Star Game?
Yes. The Padres played World Series games there in 1984 and 1998, and the stadium hosted MLB All-Star Games in 1978 and 1992. The 1998 World Series, played the same year as Super Bowl XXXII, made it the only U.S. stadium ever to host both events in one calendar year.
Why was Qualcomm Stadium demolished?
By 2020, all three major tenants — the Padres, Chargers, and Aztecs — had left for other venues, and San Diego State University had purchased the 135-acre site for $88 million to build a new campus. Demolition ran from December 2020 to March 22, 2021, clearing the land for SDSU Mission Valley and the new Snapdragon Stadium.
What replaced Qualcomm Stadium?
The site became SDSU Mission Valley, a mixed-use campus with housing, retail, a hotel, and parkland. Snapdragon Stadium, a 35,000-seat venue for SDSU football, San Diego FC, and concerts, opened on the adjacent site in August 2022.
What concerts were held at Qualcomm Stadium?
Major acts included the Rolling Stones (1981, 1994, 1998), U2 (1992, 1997), Pink Floyd (1994), and Beyoncé and Jay-Z (2018), among many other stadium-scale tours over its 53-year run.
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