No Time for Pouting

There should not be too many long faces around because of San Diego’s failure to win the right to stage the 1991 Super Bowl. With the city getting ready to put on this coming January’s pro football championship, it was not unreasonable for National Football League owners to want to see how well the first game plays out here before committing to a second.

This was also Chargers owner Alex Spanos’ first time to go through the Super Bowl competition with his fellow owners. Next time around, he’ll likely have more clout, as former owner Gene Klein did in 1984, when he successfully lobbied his colleagues to give San Diego the 1988 game.

On the whole, the city’s effort, including the promise of an estimated $2 million in incentives to the NFL, seems to have been a good investment in the future. Team owners and league Commissioner Pete Rozelle seemed genuinely impressed with San Diego’s approach and favored it over Los Angeles and Miami, which have held numerous Super Bowls, and Anaheim, which was trying to crack through and secure its first.

The city’s Super Bowl Task Force says it is ready to make the pitch again for the 1992 Super Bowl. With San Diego apparently having the best shot at getting the 1991 America’s Cup, it seems possible that from late 1990, when the Cup trials begin, through January, 1992, when the Super Bowl is played, this could be a hotbed of sports activity at the highest level. Some people, especially those who aren’t sports fans, may be turned off by the thought of the hype and confusion that accompanies these mega-sports spectacles.

But, for the tourism industry and those who mind the public coffers, it could surely be a time to remember.