San Diego State’s John David Wicker accomplished something few thought possible — even before a pandemic interrupted everyday life — when he spearheaded the efforts to get $310-million Snapdragon Stadium built on time and on budget.
He was recognized for the achievement by Sports Business Journal on Wednesday night in New York, where Wicker was named 2023 Athletic Director of the Year at the 16th annual Sports Business Awards Gala.
“It’s not often that an athletic director has an opportunity to build a football stadium from the ground up, but that’s exactly what J.D. Wicker has been doing at San Diego State,” Sports Business Journal said in a statement. “Wicker led a potentially thorny process to get Snapdragon Stadium to the finish line last season, bringing together the city of San Diego, the university and the athletics department.”
In accepting the honor, Wicker said it was an “unexpected win.”
“First Group of 5 (athletic director) to ever win,” Wicker said. “It feels like we get nominated a lot, but if you’re not in the Power 5, you’re not at that level.”
The 35,000-capacity stadium opened with the SDSU football team playing Arizona on Sept. 3, two years and two weeks after ground was broken during Phase 1 of the SDSU Mission Valley project.
“Commenting on how he measures success, Wicker said, “Two weeks ago, we graduated a bunch of student-athletes, and that’s how I know we’re succeeding. The women’s softball team is in their first-ever Super Regional this weekend. That’s succeeding.
“We just announced MLS (expansion team) in San Diego in the stadium San Diego State built for the community. That’s succeeding. There’s always something around the corner; you can get lost in all the things at times. But we’re doing a lot to make San Diego successful.”
Snapdragon Stadium also was nominated in the category of Facility of the Year, but that honor went to Boston’s Fenway Park.
