THE TIMES POLL : Fan Support for S.D. Franchises Appears Ample

Amid continuing attempts to attract professional basketball and hockey franchises to San Diego, a majority of San Diegans say they probably would not attend any home games, but enough people would buy tickets to consistently produce sellout crowds, a Times poll shows.

The poll also found that nearly half of San Diegans question the need to build the sports arena proposed by La Jolla millionaire Harry Cooper, who argues that a new facility would be a powerful--and successful--lure to National Basketball Assn. and National Hockey League teams.

If Cooper pursues his plan to build a 22,900-seat “sports palace” to replace the 23-year-old San Diego Sports Arena in the Midway area, 62% of San Diegans feel strongly that public funds should not be used in the estimated $120-million-plus project. But they have no clear preference as to whether the arena should be built downtown or in Sorrento Valley, the two primary sites mentioned to date, the poll shows.

On other sports subjects covered in the poll, nearly two-thirds of San Diegans believe that the Chargers’ recent acquisition of former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon will improve the team. But Chargers’ owner Alex Spanos remains a relative unknown five years after buying the team, as shown by the poll’s finding that nearly three-fourths of San Diegans said they do not know enough about Spanos to judge his performance as owner.

Although most San Diegans appear unenthused over the prospect of an NBA or NHL team playing in San Diego, the poll shows that public support is apparently strong enough for any such franchise to be financially feasible--a contrast to the city’s previous experiences with basketball and hockey teams.

Fifty-five percent of those polled said they probably would not attend any basketball games and 57% are disinterested in hockey, but 4% and 6%, respectively, expressed a willingness to buy basketball or hockey season tickets. Based on the county population of nearly 1.5 million adults, that number of season ticket holders alone would generate sufficient sales to fill the proposed arena several times over--if, and it is a big if, that many San Diegans back up their professed interest with dollars.

In addition, 16% said they would go to more than a fourth of the basketball games and 10% said they probably would attend at least that many hockey games. At least 20% more would attend at least a few games of both sports.

Delighted With Figures

Emphasizing that a professional sports franchise “isn’t like politics, where you need more than 50% to win,” Cooper described himself as “absolutely delighted” with the potential level of fan support reflected in the poll.

“If there are that many people interested in season tickets or even in going to a few games, that’s an enormous potential,” said Cooper, who, along with his partner, Richard Esquinas, acquired the Sports Arena lease earlier this year.

“The fact that 57% say they wouldn’t come doesn’t mean anything,” Cooper said. “That’s not the important number. What’s important is that, when you add up the people who are favorable, you’ve got several hundred thousand people saying they’d attend with some regularity.”

The Times poll is based on telephone interviews conducted Sunday with 860 San Diego County residents. The poll’s margin of sampling error is plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Computed over the course of an 82-game basketball season and an 80-game hockey season, the percentage of potential ticket-buyers reflected in the poll would produce impressive seven-figure attendance totals.

Note of Caution

Times pollster I. A. Lewis, however, cautioned that the actual number of tickets sold probably would be lower than the poll’s figures, noting that it is axiomatic in polling that fewer people “actually do what they claim they intend to do”--particularly when spending money is involved.

Cooper, though, said he would be pleased “if some of those ticket numbers were even half as big” as in the poll.

“All I need to do is get up to 20,000 in the new arena and 14,000 in the old one,” Cooper said. “These numbers show that those are very reachable targets. Considering that we’re at least a few years away from having a team here, to have this level of interest now is just amazing.”

Before worrying about filling the arena with sports fans, however, Cooper first must concern himself with securing teams to play in it--a formidable challenge, given that both the NBA and NHL have repeatedly said they have no current expansion plans.

Cooper, however, professes confidence that expansion of both leagues is inevitable, adding that San Diego “is going to be first in line when that finally happens.” But, if neither league appears likely to expand in the early 1990s--the tentative opening date for the new arena is 1994--Cooper and his associates plan to try to persuade an existing franchise to relocate in San Diego.

Need Questioned

Even as preliminary architectural planning, financial analyses and site studies for the proposed arena continue, the poll found that many San Diegans question the need for it. By 45% to 36%, San Diegans said they do not believe that a new arena is needed, with the remaining 19% undecided.

Untroubled by the lack of majority support for his project, Cooper said: “If we were looking for taxpayer money, that might be a concern. But we’re not. The people who have to be interested--and are interested--are the ones who will be financing it.”

For the same reason, Cooper said he is unperturbed by the poll’s finding that 62% of San Diegans oppose the use of public funds for the arena project. Not surprisingly, a majority of the 29% who support the use of public funds to build an arena are people who say they would attend basketball and hockey games. In general, men also were more favorably disposed toward a new arena and the possible use of public funds to build it than were women, as were people under age 40 in contrast with those who are older.

Although Cooper has promoted his project as a privately financed venture, he also has indicated that, if city leaders insist--as some have--that the arena be built downtown, he would expect the city to compensate him for the anticipated higher land cost.

According to Cooper’s preliminary estimates, the cost of a downtown arena could be as much as $20 million higher than the $120-million price tag to build the arena on the 38-acre parcel he owns in Sorrento Valley. That price differential perhaps could be offset, Cooper from part of the millions of dollars in added tax revenue that the arena would generate.

San Diegans, meanwhile, are nearly evenly divided on the question of where they would like to see the arena built, the poll shows. Although 30% favored Sorrento Valley, compared to 26% who preferred downtown, 33% of those polled said they would be satisfied with either site.

With the National Football League season beginning next week, the poll showed that San Diegans are enthused over the Chargers’ prospects as a result of the recent McMahon trade.

Sixty-five percent of those polled said they believe that the trade will improve the Chargers’ season, with 28% of them predicting a major improvement over last year’s 6-10 record. Only 4% saw McMahon’s acquisition as a potential setback, 5% felt it will make no difference, and 26% were undecided.

The high public profile that McMahon brought with him to San Diego clearly is not shared by Chargers’ owner Spanos, the poll showed. An overwhelming 71% of the respondents said they did not know enough about Spanos to make an assessment of his five-year tenure as owner. Among those who had an opinion, Spanos drew a favorable rating by a narrow 16%-13% split.

OPINION ON NEW TEAMS, ARENA If a national Basketball Assn. team is brought to San Diego, how many games would you attend? None: 55% A few: 22% More than half: 10% More than one-fourth: 6% Buy a season ticket: 4% Don’t know: 3% If a National Hockey Leaggue team is brought to San Diego, how many games would you attend? None: 57% A few: 22% Buy a season ticket: 6% More than half: 5% More than one-fourth: 5% Don’t know: 5% Do you think San Diego needs a new sports arena? No: 45% Yes: 36% Don’t know: 19% SOURCE: Times Poll