Inside brand new $300m stadium on site of demolished ex-Super Bowl venue that hosted Red Hot Chili Peppers in concert
Olivia House
Published Aug 21, 2026
SAN Diego's new $300million Snapdragon Stadium is already proving to be a star attraction.
After a successful first season hosting college football, the arena played host to legendary rockers Red Hot Chili Peppers on May 13.
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The 35,000-seat arena is located on San Diego State University's Mission Valley campus.
And it sits on the same site as the now-demolished San Diego Stadium, the former home of the Los Angeles Chargers.
Known as the Aztec Stadium during construction after the SDSU mascot, the state-of-the-art arena can be expanded to accommodate 55,000 fans - if NFL football returns to the city.
The Snapdragon is part of a mammoth SDSU project that is seeing a $3.5billion investment transform the entire campus.
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As well as sporting venues, the project will bring housing, offices, retail space, hotels, and parks to the area over the coming years.
SDSU's Director of Athletics John David Wicker told the San Diego Union Tribune: "We were very clear on what it was we wanted to do.
"I’m proud of the fact that we’re doing what we said we were going to do.
“We’re delivering to the community a building that will benefit every person in this community and a lot of phenomenal people have stepped up, whether they’re SDSU alums or not.
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"Because they see the benefits of not only what the stadium’s going to do but what the entire project means to the community.
"We’re going to have not only a phenomenal football stadium but a phenomenal SDSU Mission Valley that’s going to benefit this community immensely."
The former San Diego Stadium was leveled in 2020, with the new arena a perfect size for the Aztecs to flourish.
It hosted its first college football game in September 2022 and will play host to soccer, rugby, and lacrosse in the coming years.
The playing field in the arena has been designed to sit below ground level, with seated stands rising on all four sides.
There is no canopy at Snapdragon Stadium, while hospitality booths provide shade between the two tiers along each sideline.
It's a far cry from the aging Qualcomm Stadium, where both the Aztecs and Chargers played until its demolition in 2020.
The Q hosted three Super Bowls, with its last in 2003 where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Oakland Raiders 48-21.
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