Panel Confident S.D. Has What It Takes to Lure ’91 Super Bowl

The San Diego Super Bowl Task Force said Thursday it has one more hurdle to clear as it tries to land the 25th anniversary Super Bowl.

Elated by a decision earlier this week in Hawaii that declared San Diego to be one of five finalists to host the 1991 game, task force officials said during a press conference that they will travel to New York in mid-April to meet with the National Football League’s Super Bowl site selection committee.

There, they must substantiate additional claims that San Diego is qualified to hold the annual extravaganza, which has become a weeklong media event. Although declining to disclose what specific proposals they will present to the site selection committee, task force officials said San Diego’s proposal is the best financially for the NFL.

“We were told some time ago when we received a 10-day notice to appear before four National Football League owners in New York during Christmas that we were a 100 to 1 shot in bringing the (25th) Super Bowl to San Diego,” said Bob Payne, chairman of the task force. “Incredible as it might sound, we are a solid contender for the 1991 Super Bowl here in San Diego.”

The other finalists are Miami, Tampa, Anaheim and Los Angeles.

Payne denied that San Diego agreed to pick up the tab for the commissioner’s gala Super Bowl party, as was alleged by representatives of the other cities that are vying to host the game.

“They have rejected San Diego, or any other city, putting on any type of party,” Payne said.

He acknowledged that city and task force officials wondered whether being named a finalist was simply a token gesture because the city will be the site of next January’s game.

“We did fear that the NFL made us one of the finalists as an accommodation to the success of 1988, but that’s not the case,” Payne said. “When you really look at it objectively as businessmen and analyze the positives, San Diego cannot be underestimated.”

But he added that task force members also are concerned that Jack Murphy Stadium’s seating capacity may look unattractive to members of the committee.

The seating capacity at the stadium for the 1988 Super Bowl will be 74,147. Anaheim Stadium currently has a capacity of 69,000, but it will be expanded to hold 74,000 if it secures the game.

San Diego officials said they will continue to make a strong pitch for the 25th anniversary bid by trying to promote that they have a modern stadium capable of accommodating such an event, and that they have the resources such as the proximity of hotels to the stadium to attract the game.

The final decision of the site for the 25th anniversary game will be made in May, when NFL owners gather at the Hotel del Coronado.