The Fox Sports College Properties official handling the bidding for the renaming of Qualcomm Stadium said that viable bids submitted ahead of tomorrow's deadline "came from less than 10 companies or institutions," according to Roger Showley of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Fox Sports VP & GM for SDSU Sports Properties Duke Little "declined to identify the candidates but said the bidders 'won’t be shocking' and the public would be happy with whoever wins." Little also "declined to release the range among the bid amounts, but he previously said $500,000 would be a welcomed figure." Little: "We’re happy with what we’re working with." Little added that San Diego City Council will be "asked to approve a new name at its meeting Sept. 18 or 19, but it is unclear if the choices will be debated behind closed doors or in public." That schedule "means the new name cannot be unveiled at the Sept. 16 football game between SDSU and Stanford as Little had originally intended." Showley notes the naming rights are "only good through Dec. 31, 2018, when the city plans to close the stadium." But if the city "decides to keep the stadium open until a replacement is built to accommodate" SDSU, the naming contract would be "up for renegotiation to extend the new name as well" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 9/7).
