Chargers President Donates $500K to UCSD for New Athletic Center

Editor's Note: UC San Diego released the following announcement.

Students at UC San Diego have something new to cheer about this season. Dean Spanos, chairman of the board and president of the San Diego Chargers, has pledged $500,000 to UC San Diego to support a new Athletic Performance Center. The gift will support the expansion of the existing Alex G. Spanos Training Facility, located at the north end of campus. The revamped facility will be renamed the Alex G. Spanos Athletic Performance Center.

The new center, overlooking Triton Track and Field Stadium, will include a strength and conditioning area, outdoor performance plaza, hydrotherapy room and more for student-athletes. Currently, strength-training equipment at UC San Diego’sRecreation, Intramural and Athletics Complex (RIMAC) is shared by the entire student body, with space at times reserved for student-athletes. The additional training space, thanks to the Spanos gift, will benefit all UC San Diego students with improved access to campus weight-training equipment.

Collectively, the Spanos family has made gifts totaling more than $1.6 million to UC San Diego Athletics. This represents the most any family or single donor has given to the intercollegiate sports program at UC San Diego. 

“We truly appreciate Dean Spanos’ generosity to UC San Diego Athletics. This gift represents a continuation of the Spanos family’s support which has spanned the decades,” said Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “This new facility will have a significant impact for our Triton student-athletes, as well as our student body as a whole.”

The family’s support of UC San Diego Athletics dates back as early as 1976.  For many years, the San Diego Chargers had an annual agreement to use UC San Diego as a training camp. In 1988, then Chargers owner, Alex Spanos offered to construct and donate a locker room and training facility in the north campus recreation area—an in-kind donation that was valued at $1.1 million. In recognition of his generosity, UC Regents approved the naming of the Alex G. Spanos Training Facility that same year.

“I’m proud to be able to support UC San Diego Athletics and the university where our family, the Chargers and Chargers fans have so many great memories,” said Dean Spanos. “The donation will continue my father’s legacy of giving to the university while helping to provide an athletic experience on par with the school’s first-class academic experience.”

According to Dean Spanos’ wishes, the new center will be known as the Alex G. Spanos Athletic Performance Center, in honor of his father. 

“We are truly grateful for the Spanos family’s generosity in supporting UC San Diego Athletics throughout the decades,” said Earl W. Edwards, UC San Diego Director of Athletics. “This new center will be a state-of-the-art training facility that will help ensure that our Triton student-athletes reach their full potential.”

UC San Diego Athletics is consistently ranked as the top NCAA Division II program in the nation according to the National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA) Power Rankings. More than 600 student-athletes compete in 23 men’s and women’s sports. UC San Diego has garnered 30 national championships in eight different team sports and 136 individual national championships. Their prowess extends beyond the field as well.  The average UC San Diego student-athlete GPA is higher than that of the student body at-large; nearly 60 percent of student-athletes record GPAs of 3.0 or higher.