SAN DIEGO — San Diego State’s Director of Collegiate Athletics sat down with CBS 8 ahead of the highly anticipated opening of the new Snapdragon Stadium. He answered several questions including what the fan experience will be like, how the stadium is different from Qualcomm and he even explained how the university tied in pieces of the old Qualcomm Stadium into the new look at Snapdragon Stadium.
The Aztecs will host the first game at Snapdragon Stadium against the Arizona Wildcats at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 3. Tune into CBS 8 for the game and for a pregame show at 11 a.m.
Fan Experience
The stadium is much more intimate. Over probably 80% of the seats sit inside what was the plaza section in the old stadium, so that low first level, a lot of social areas where people can go and hang out and a lot of different premium experiences for people to check out. The pier is going to be awesome as you think about our coastal culture and, you know, piers going out in the ocean. We have a pier going out into the seating bowl so you can watch the football game. So lots of different areas where people can connect.
The pier is unique to any stadium in the country. We also have great food partners. I think we have 13 different local food partners. We've got great local craft beer in the building as well. So, there's really going to be something for everybody in the building.
Tying in Jack Murphy Stadium/Qualcomm Stadium to Snapdragon
The Jack Murphy statue is going to be back for those that walked off the trolley to the old stadium, Jack Murphy and his dog will be at the stadium. We've got a paver area in the northeast corner of the building, the pavers are actually chunks of the old stadium. We've got some stuff for the Padres, some stuff that actually goes back to the Chargers you know different little easter eggs for people to find that came out of the old stadium. We pay homage to what was a phenomenal building for the for the City of San Diego and now we're ready for Snapdragon Stadium and Bashor Field and all that it is to serve the next hopefully 100 years for the City of San Diego.
How the new building helps recruiting
It's definitely a revenue stream that our athletic department has not seen before. That revenue won't just help football, that revenue is going to go to the bottom line of every one of our sports and help us with the student-athlete experience for everyone. This is something that everybody in the community is going to be able to benefit from and I'm excited that the stadium is the first piece of it.
Watch the full 11-minute conversation with Athletic Director, JD Wicker below: