Despite San Diego State Univ. being "relatively quiet" on a proposal by a group of local investors working to bring an MLS stadium to San Diego, the direction it is heading "seems to greatly intrigue" the school, according to Kevin Acee of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. However, pushback from some SDSU fans on the proposed 30,000-seat stadium has been "clamorous and emphatic." Their concern is that 30,000 seats is "too small -- that such a venue constitutes 'settling' and is 'small-time.'" SDSU football "averaged 37,289 over six home games" in '16. But that is "tickets distributed," and actual attendance was "slightly less." SDSU AD John David Wicker said of the initial capacity, "We’re still discussing what that top end is going to be. It will be expandable to 40,000. That will be in the plan as we work with the architects and we lay out what the stadium site will look like. ... A conference coming in is not going to look at how big our stadium is. They’re going to look at how successful we are, how many eyeballs you bring." Acee noted the SDSU game experience in the past has "been swallowed inside" Qualcomm Stadium. Even a crowd of 35,000, with tarps covering the upper bowl, made a SDSU game "seem like it was being played inside a library." The proposed new venue will have "all the amenities of a modern professional stadium, including the large and vivid video boards Qualcomm Stadium lacks" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/7).
