When the Chargers released their plan for a downtown stadium last month, a key element to the package deal was a convention center annex that the team envisions next to or under the stadium.
National football media outlets seized upon one aspect of the local reports: the Chargers and NFL would pick up nearly 70 percent of the stadium-construction tab.
Under the headline “Chargers, NFL offer to pay $650 million of $1 billion stadium,” Pro Football Talk laid out a pro-League, pro-Bolts narrative.
By the standards of new NFL stadiums, that’s a fairly good deal for the community: Usually it’s the taxpayers who foot the bulk of the bill, whereas in this case the taxpayers (out-of-town taxpayers visiting and staying in hotels) will only pay about one-third of the costs.