LA Chargers Pay City of San Diego $12.5 Million for Breaking Stadium Lease

After paying relocation fees to the NFL, and having to cover other related moving expenses, the now-LA Chargers organization has now completed an early termination of their Qualcomm Stadium lease by paying $12.5 million to the City of San Diego. 
According to a Los Angeles Times article, the payment was made via wire transfer and the transaction was detailed in a two paragraph letter signed by Dean Spanos. 
The termination of the Chargers’ stadium lease was made on Wednesday, January 31, the first day they had the option to cut their contract on the property after officiating their move to los Angeles. The lease was set to expire in 2020. 
Shortly after revealing that the Chargers were moving to Los Angeles, franchise chairman Dean Spanos announced he was terminating the lease as soon as possible, ending all ties with the City after nearly 60 years of calling San Diego home. 
As of now, it is not known what the City will do with the payment. The City still has $38 million of debt from renovations made to Qualcomm Stadium, which added luxury boxes and extra seating, as well as a training facility for the Chargers on Murphy Canyon Road. 
The Chargers had threatened a move to Los Angeles for several years in an attempt to gain financial support from local taxpayers for a new stadium. After their Hail Mary attempt at financing a downtown stadium and convention center space, known as the “Convadium” by locals, fumbled in the November polls, the move north was expected to become a reality. 
On January 12, the team announced it was leaving America’s Finest City for the Los Angeles market. The Chargers had until January 15 to exercise their option to move to Los Angeles. 
The Chargers will be tenants at the stadium currently being built by the Los Angeles Rams. In the meantime, the Bolts will be playing in the 27,000-seater StubHub Center, home to Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy, until the Ram’s stadium is completed in August 2019. 
With the Qualcomm site lease terminated, the City of San Diego may now consider proposals for the property, including one announced this week by local investors veying for a Major League Soccer expansion franchise. That plan could see a new smaller stadium built for soccer and SDSU football funded with no tax dollars.