Jack Murphy Stadium
The Jack Murphy Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in San Diego, California. It was better known as San Diego stadium and several other names. Initially, the naming rights to this facility were actually owned by Qualcomm, a telecommunications company based in San Diego. For this reason, the venue was known as Qualcomm Stadium, up until 2017, when the San Diego County Credit Union purchased the name it right, renaming the stadium SDCCU, shortened to San Diego Stadium. The demolition of the stadium began in 2020 by disassembling the facility one section at a time. Eventually, the process finished in 2021. The stadium dates back to the early 60s. Back then, a local sports personality, Jack Murphy, and his brother Bob built up a lot of mom media momentum in support of the construction of a multi-purpose stadium in the city of San Diego. Jack is the reason why the stadium is often referred to as Jack Murphy Stadium, even though the naming agreements didn’t really allow this name to be used formally for most of the stadium’s history. This hasn’t stopped locals from calling it “The Murph” or simply “The Jack Murphy.” This venue earned its place in local lore, especially due to the many iconic and legendary games that took place there.
They were able to start the machine, so to speak, and by late 1965, there was already a bond worth 27 million dollars designated to the construction of this stadium, which was actually designed to match the canon of the Brutalist style. This particular approach was very functional rather than aesthetic, aiming for a reliable yet cost-effective solution with a more minimalistic look. The stadium eventually went through some upgrades, most notable receiving a brand new scoreboard in 1978. This was the first. Ever outdoor scoreboard ever built-in full-color, making for a true world first! Eventually, this scoreboard was updated in 1987, featuring a newer model with a video screen. This, too, was rendered obsolete by the early 90s. It was eventually replaced by two massive Sony JumboTron screens, which brought a modern sheen to the scoreboard experience. However, the overall appearance of the stadium remained quite similar to how it was in its early days.
The stadium was particularly notable for being home to the San Diego State Aztecs, a local football team. In addition to that, it was actually home of the San Diego Fleet, a team belonging to the Alliance of American Football. More importantly, the stadium was home to the Padres, the city’s MLB team, as well as NFL’s San Diego Chargers.
The San Diego stadium also hosted a wide range of other sports, including SCCA events, the first of which happened just a few weeks from the grand opening of the stadium. Throughout the years, the stadium also hosted various high-profile rugby events, cunning the historic USA vs. New Zealand game from October 1980, which was a widely publicized game. Counting 14.000 fans, this was a relatively small event when compared to baseball, but it was actually the largest crowd to ever watch an international rugby game in the United States at the time!
Many concerts took place in this particular venue. The first band to perform here was actually ZZ Top, which was followed by The Rolling Stones, as well as The Who, Guns N Roses, Metallica, and many other acts. The last time an entertainer performed music at this stadium was on September 27th, 2018, when rap artist Jay-Z and his wife, Beyonce Knowles, performed there as a part of their “On the Run II Tour.”