San Diego State might have to move Mountain West title game

Aztecs would play at Petco Park, SDFC would play at Snapdragon Stadium

San Diego State Aztecs running back Byron Cardwell Jr. (21). | Photo courtesy of San Diego State University Athletics

If San Diego State hosts the Mountain West Championship Game and the expansion San Diego FC hosts the MLS Cup the first weekend of December, the Aztecs will move the football game to Petco Park, the downtown home of the San Diego Padres, and let the futbol team use Snapdragon Stadium in Mission Valley, which the teams share, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. 

The MW title game is scheduled for Dec. 5 at 5 p.m. PT and the MLS title game is set for Dec. 6 at 11:30 a.m. PT. 

Snapdragon Stadium, the 35,000-seat stadium that opened in 2022, hosted an SDSU football game on Saturday night and an MLS playoff game on Monday night. But a quicker turnaround to host the championship games, if both teams get that far as hosts, would be “impossible,” SDSU athletic director J.D. Wicker told the newspaper. 

“The best path forward is playing the Mountain West championship game at Petco Park and the San Diego FC to play the MLS Cup at Snapdragon Stadium, as it would be logistically impossible to play the two events in the stadium due to the natural grass surface and the required field setup for each event,” SDSU said in a statement.

“We are tremendously thankful to the San Diego Padres for allowing us to possibly host the Mountain West championship game. Petco Park has previously hosted two football bowl games, and the venue will still provide a homefield advantage for our student-athletes, staff and fans. The Padres have been supportive throughout this process, and we appreciate their efforts to possibly host this event.”

Petco Park hosted the Holiday Bowl in 2022 and 2023 before the game was moved to Snapdragon Stadium last year. The Holiday Bowl was set to debut at Petco Park in 2021, but UCLA pulled out just hours before kickoff, citing concerns due to COVID-19.

“The San Diego Padres have been cheering for and supporting San Diego FC and the San Diego State football team as they pursue championships,” Padres CEO Erik Greupner told the Union-Tribune. “The Padres are committed to San Diego and the success of our fellow sports teams. When approached by both teams about potentially playing their championship games at Petco Park, we enthusiastically offered to help in any way we can.

“It was determined that it would be a better fit for San Diego State to play at Petco Park, so we are prepared to host the Mountain West Championship game and give our Aztecs and their fans an amazing experience and home field advantage.  We wish both teams the best of luck and hope to celebrate with them when they win their championships,” Greupner said. 

If the resurgent Aztecs (9-2, 6-1 MW) win at New Mexico (8-3, 5-2) on Friday afternoon, they will host the MW title game. SDSU could still host with a loss at New Mexico, depending on the results of other games and tiebreakers. 

SDFC will host the MLS Cup if it beats the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night in the Western Conference finals at Snapdragon, and New York City FC upsets Inter Miami, which is led by superstar Lionel Messi. 

The Aztecs and SDFC have had remarkable seasons to excite a championship-starved city. SDFC drew a sellout crowd of 32,502 for its win against Minnesota on Monday night. San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado is an investor in the soccer team.

“I would much rather have San Diego State fans and SDFC fans and sports fans in general have the opportunity to partake in two championship events, where it’s a win-win for the city of San Diego,” Wicker told the U-T. “We always said when we built this stadium that we built it for the community of San Diego and for the good of San Diego. I don’t think there could be a better example of that than this.”

If SDFC doesn’t host the MLS Cup, the Aztecs will play the MW title game at Snapdragon.

Snapdragon Stadium replaced Qualcomm Stadium, which was torn down during the pandemic, a few years after the NFL’s Chargers moved to Los Angeles.