Petco Park is a ballpark in San Diego, California. It is the home of the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). The ballpark is located in the East Village neighborhood of downtown San Diego, adjacent to the Gaslamp Quarter. Petco Park opened in 2004, replacing San Diego Stadium as the Padres' home venue, where the team played from their inception in 1969 to 2003.
On April 8, 2004, the Padres played their first game at the ballpark, defeating the San Francisco Giants 4–3 in ten innings. Petco Park hosted the inaugural 2006 World Baseball Classic championship and the 2016 MLB All-Star Game. On October 9, 2024, Petco Park achieved an attendance record for baseball during a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, with 47,773 people in attendance.
Petco Park features unique design elements, particularly the Western Metal Supply Co. building, a historic warehouse incorporated into the ballpark; its southeast corner serves as the left field foul pole. Gallagher Square, located beyond the outfield wall, includes a community park and viewing terrace, among other features open to the public during stadium off-hours.
History Construction
The ballpark was constructed by San Diego Ballpark Builders, a partnership with Clark Construction, ROEL Construction and Douglas E. Barnhart, Inc. The construction cost of more than $450 million was partially funded by a public–private partnership which included the Center City Development Corporation and the San Diego Redevelopment Agency. The stadium was intended to be part of a comprehensive plan to revitalize San Diego's aging downtown, particularly the East Village area. The stadium is across Harbor Drive from the San Diego Convention Center, and its main entrance behind home plate is two blocks from the downtown terminal of the San Diego Trolley light rail system.
The ballpark was scheduled to open for the 2002 season; however, construction was suspended temporarily for legal and political reasons. Part of this was a court decision, which nullified an already passed ballot proposition approving the city's portion of the stadium financing package and required the proposition be put to voters a second time. Construction encountered a further delay regarding the Western Metal Supply Co. building, which was a historic landmark. After negotiations with the preservation community, the builders agreed to rehabilitate the building in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior's standards, and the building was renovated and included in the stadium design in an example of adaptive reuse.
The resulting delays required the Padres to play the 2002 and 2003 seasons at Qualcomm Stadium.
Location The southern side of the stadium is bounded by San Diego Trolley light rail tracks along the north side of Harbor Drive, which serve the adjacent San Diego Convention Center. The portion of K Street between Seventh and 10th is closed to automobiles and serves as a pedestrian promenade along the back of the left and center field outfield seating and also provides access to Gallagher Square behind center field.
Two of the stadium's outfield entrance areas are located at K Street's intersections with Seventh and 10th avenues. The main entrance, behind home plate, is at the south end of Park Boulevard (at Imperial) and faces the San Diego Trolley station 12th & Imperial Transit Center. The ballpark is also located approximately away from Santa Fe Depot station, which is served by Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner, and NCTD's Coaster commuter rail service.
A planned Downtown Station along Harbor Drive between 1st and 5th Avenues would bring the Coaster closer to the ballpark than the existing Santa Fe Depot station. The new platform is expected to open in late 2027 or early 2028.
Naming rights San Diego–based pet supplies retailer Petco originally bought naming rights to the stadium in 2004 for $60 million in a 22-year deal. In 2021, Petco signed a new deal with the Padres that ensured the stadium would be named Petco Park through at least 2027. This extension also helped start some other initiatives for Petco and the stadium. Petco's new logo has appeared on new digital signage throughout the park. Following the deal, Petco has also entered a strategic partnership with Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. to promote the wellbeing of pets and their owners. Petco will also be collaborating with players on social and other digital media to promote pet health.
Baseball milestones The first baseball game was played at Petco Park on March 11, 2004. It was part of a four-team NCAA invitational tournament hosted by San Diego State University. The San Diego State Aztecs baseball team, of which retired Padres player Tony Gwynn was the head coach, defeated Houston. It remains the largest attended game in college baseball history. Lance Zawadzki recorded the first hit, when he hit a double. Rielly Embrey hit the first home run in the 5th inning of the same game. On April 8, 2004, the Padres played their first regular season game at Petco Park and defeated the San Francisco Giants 4–3 in 10 innings. On April 15, 2004, Mark Loretta hit the first Padre home run off of Hideo Nomo of the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was caught by Mike Hill, a bartender at the Kansas City Barbecue.
The stadium's first playoff game was played on October 8, 2005. The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Padres, 7–4, to finish off the three-game sweep of the 2005 NLDS.
On March 18 and 20, 2006, the ballpark hosted the semifinals and finals of the first World Baseball Classic. It also hosted second-round games of the 2009 World Baseball Classic. On April 4, 2006, Petco Park had its first rainout, postponing a Padres evening game against the San Francisco Giants.
On August 4, 2007, Barry Bonds hit his 755th home run to tie Hank Aaron's record.
On April 17, 2008, the Padres and Rockies played in a 22-inning game. It was the longest MLB game in nearly 15 years. The game lasted for 22 innings and went on for 6 hours and 16 minutes, ending at 1:21 am in a 2–1 win for the Colorado Rockies. The game featured a stretch of 13 scoreless innings. As of 2023, this remains the longest game in Petco Park's history.
On July 2, 2009, the park was the site of the first MLB game delayed by a swarm of bees. In a game between the Padres and the Houston Astros, a small swarm of honeybees took up residence around a chair in left field, causing the game to be delayed by 52 minutes. A beekeeper was called in and the swarm was exterminated. The Astros won that game, 7–2.
On June 14, 2010, during a Toronto Blue Jays vs. San Diego Padres game, there was a magnitude-5.7 earthquake, which was centered about east of San Diego. Play stopped momentarily in the eighth inning. The Blue Jays went on to win 6–3.
Rain delays led to the suspension of the Padres' game with the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 8, 2011. The first delay caused the game to start 28 minutes late. Play then was stopped for more than 90 minutes in the second inning and again in the sixth inning for more than hour. The score was tied at 2–2 in the top of the ninth inning when play was suspended at 1:40 a.m. PDT April 9. After a fourth rain delay, the game was finished April 9, with the Dodgers winning in 11 innings, 4–2.
On April 30, 2012, Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun became the first player to hit three home runs in one game at the park. Braun finished the game 4–5 with three home runs and a triple.
On July 13, 2013, Tim Lincecum threw the park's first no-hitter for the visiting San Francisco Giants as they defeated the Padres, 9–0.
The park hosted the 2016 MLB All-Star Game.
In 2017, Petco Park played host to Pool F of the 2017 World Baseball Classic, in which host USA and undefeated Puerto Rico advanced to the semi-finals.
For the 2020 MLB postseason, the park was one of two stadiums (along with Dodger Stadium) to host neutral-site games of the ALDS, and was also the only stadium to host neutral-site games of the ALCS.
Eduardo Escobar of the New York Mets was the first player to hit for the cycle in the history of Petco Park on June 6, 2022. Later that year, the Padres made it to the postseason as the 5th wild card seed with a 89–73 record. Petco Park hosted its very first postseason game featuring the Padres with fans in attendance in 16 years, as they squared off against the 111-win division rival Los Angeles Dodgers in game 3 of the NLDS. The San Diego Padres would go on to win the series 3–1. On October 18, 2022, Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies hit the longest home run ever recorded at Petco Park at 488 feet in game one of the NLCS.
On May 11, 2024, Petco Park achieved an attendance record for baseball during a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers; the team cited 46,701 people in attendance. The record was beaten shortly after on July 5, in a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, with 47,171 people in attendance. The record was beaten once again on July 30 against the Los Angeles Dodgers with a walk-off win in front of a crowd of 47,559.
Notable events
Other sports Rugby In February 2007, Petco Park became the new host of the USA Sevens, a rugby union sevens event within the IRB Sevens World Series. Previous editions of the USA Sevens had been held at Home Depot Center in the Greater Los Angeles suburb of Carson. After the 2009 edition, the event moved to Las Vegas.
Tennis From January 31 through February 2, 2014, Petco Park's left-center field temporarily was converted into a red clay tennis court for the Davis Cup tie between United States and Great Britain.
Motor sports In January 2015, Petco Park hosted rounds of Monster Jam and AMA Supercross Championship, as a replacement for Qualcomm Stadium.
Golf Since 2015, Petco Park has partnered with Callaway Golf Company to open a par-3 nine-hole golf course within the stadium the first week of each November. The holes are built within the outfield while many of the tees are in the upper decks of the stadium.
Basketball On December 7, 2015, Petco Park hosted its first college basketball game between the San Diego Toreros and the San Diego State Aztecs as part of the Bill Walton Basketball Festival held in San Diego. DateOpponentScoreHomeAttendance December 6, 2015 San Diego State 48-53 San Diego 10,086
Football
On January 25, 2017, following the relocation of the Chargers NFL franchise to Los Angeles, it was announced that exploratory discussions were taking place regarding the possibility of playing the Holiday Bowl at Petco Park in future years. On June 24, 2021, the Padres announced a partnership with the San Diego Bowl Game Association for the Holiday Bowl to take place at Petco Park for a minimum of the next five years. The first Holiday Bowl at Petco Park would have taken place on December 28, 2021, between the UCLA Bruins and NC State Wolfpack. Hours before kickoff, UCLA withdrew due to positive COVID tests and the game was cancelled. The 2022 Holiday Bowl was played as scheduled. On June 11, 2024, it was announced that the Holiday Bowl would be moving from Petco Park to Snapdragon Stadium.
Holiday Bowl results Rankings are based on the AP poll prior to the game being played. Date Played Winning team Losing teamAttnd.Notes December 28, 2021 Canceled due to COVID-19 protocols December 28, 2022 #15 Oregon 28 North Carolina 27 36,242 notes December 27, 2023 USC 42 #16 Louisville 28 35,317 notes
Rodeo The inaugural San Diego Rodeo was held at Petco Park on January 12–14, 2024. The second San Diego Rodeo will return on January 10–12, 2025.
Concerts