Decision Shocking to Spanos

Alex Spanos, the Chargers’ owner, said he thought he had made all the key contacts, shook all the proper hands and had all the right answers for his fellow NFL owners concerning San Diego’s bid to play host to the 1993 Super Bowl.

He was so sure of the success of his lobbying effort that he confidently said on the eve of Tuesday’s decision that he thought he had the votes to deliver the game to the city for a second time.

But when the 28 owners’ votes were counted after the first secret ballot, San Diego was out. Four ballots later, Phoenix had defeated Pasadena for the right to play host to the game, and there probably was no one more stunned and upset than Spanos.

“I’m just shocked, absolutely shocked,” Spanos said several minutes after emerging from the closed-door meeting. “All I heard from the other owners was what a great time they had when the (1988) Super Bowl was in San Diego and how much they wanted to come back. No one said a bad word about San Diego.”

Nearly an hour after the vote, Spanos still was trying to figure out what had gone wrong. He said he entered the meeting reasonably sure he could count on a majority of the owners to back San Diego, and he certainly did not expect its bid to end on the first ballot.

Spanos credited much of Phoenix’s victory to the work of Bill Bidwill, owner of the Cardinals.

“The Bidwills have been in this league for years,” Spanos said. “They have a lot of friends.”

Spanos was not alone in his surprise. For the past month, San Diego and Pasadena officials said they considered themselves the front-runners for the the 1993 game, with most giving Pasadena the edge. Phoenix was said to be running third, even by Phoenix officials, as recently as last week.

And when the owners’ three-member Super Bowl selection committee decided Tuesday morning not to recommend a city (Spanos said he thought such a recommendation would favor Pasadena), San Diego officials said their chances were enhanced.

That turn of events had Bob Payne, chairman of the San Diego Super Bowl Task Force, still shaking his head a half hour after the vote was announced.

“I’m still in shock,” Payne said. “I guess I always saw this like a political campaign with two leaders butting heads, and sometimes the dark horse wins. That’s what happened.”

Payne said the San Diego proposal was competitive, met all the league’s requirements and was more generous than the bid that won the city the 1988 game.

“We didn’t stub our toe,” Payne said. “We had a strong bid.”

Phoenix also offered a tempting financial package that included extra sweeteners such as free hotel rooms for NFL meetings scheduled there in 1992.

“Everybody always realized that Phoenix had a lot of attractive characteristics,” Payne said. “Their only negative was that they were the new kid on the block and that might not work in their favor.”

Apparently, just the opposite happened. Since Bidwill moved his team from St. Louis before the start of the 1988 season, he has faced a fan backlash and public criticism over what were the league’s highest average ticket prices.

The chance to bring Phoenix its first Super Bowl was viewed as a boost to the NFL’s newest city and to Bidwill personally.

“We had heard a long time ago that if Bidwill ever said, ‘Hey, guys, I need help,’ then he would get it,” Payne said. “That’s what happened.”

Payne said San Diego officials already have decided that they will seek the next available Super Bowl in 1995. The 1994 field already has been narrowed to Atlanta, Miami, New Orleans and Tampa.

Jim Steeg, NFL director of special events, said no decision on the bidding process for the 1995 game is expected until later this year at the earliest.

“My guess is the ’95 game will be between Los Angeles and San Diego,” Payne said.

But unlike San Diego, Pasadena might be discouraged from mounting another bid soon because of what an official said was a “political” outcome.

“It upsets us that this was not a business decision,” said David Simon, president of the Los Angeles Sports Council. “We would have to think seriously before bidding again.”