Baseball Giants, Super Bowl Are Issues

The outcome of ballot initiatives today in California and Arizona might determine the future homes of the San Francisco Giants and the 1993 Super Bowl.

If voters in five cities approve proposals today, the Giants will leave Candlestick Park, their windblown ballpark south of the city, and eventually become the Santa Clara Giants.

“If they build it, we will come, no question,” Giant vice president Corey Busch said. “We have never been happy with Candlestick. And neither have the fans.”

Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent has lent his support to the plan, saying the Santa Clara Giants “has a nice ring to it.”

Meanwhile, the NFL is prepared to move the 1993 Super Bowl from Phoenix if Arizona voters fail to approve a Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The L.A. Coliseum, the Rose Bowl and Anaheim Stadium might be considered as alternative sites.

Voters in Santa Clara, San Jose, Sunnyvale and Milpitas are being asked to approve a 1% utility tax to finance the proposed $153-million stadium on 98 acres of city-owned land in Santa Clara, 40 miles south of San Francisco. If approved, the tax would raise about $16 million a year.

Those cities have agreed to become members of a Joint Powers Authority, which would operate the stadium. The city of Mountain View would become a member only if its voters approve a separate utility tax.

The Giants’ lease at 64,000-seat Candlestick Park expires in 1992. The team would like to occupy the proposed 45,000-seat Santa Clara stadium for the 1994 season.

San Francisco leaders tried unsuccessfully last year to get voters to approve a new downtown stadium.

Voters in Arizona have two referendums to choose from. If either passes, King’s birthday will become a holiday in Arizona. Should the measures fail, the Washington Post reported, the NFL would move the 1993 Super Bowl.

Political analyst Joe Lane said the voters will approve a holiday out of fear of losing the Super Bowl and the millions of dollars in tourism and other revenue that the game is expected to generate.

An Arizona Republic newspaper poll indicated that Arizonans favor Proposition 302, adding a paid holiday in King’s memory, by a margin of 52% to 38%.

A bid submitted by the L.A. Sports Council that would have brought the 1993 Super Bowl to the Coliseum, the Rose Bowl or Anaheim Stadium was narrowly defeated by Phoenix in a vote by NFL owners.