No News Good News for Fans

Normally, something not happening neither comes under the heading of news nor merits comment.

Not only did man not bite dog, but dog did not bite man either. Days without wrecks or demonstrations or crimes are nice days, to be sure, but not particularly newsworthy.

There are, of course, exceptions. There are times when nothing happening is news. When politicians elect not to raise taxes, for example, that comes under the heading of news.

Good news.

In that context, Alex Spanos is to be applauded for his decision not to levy further assessments on those who choose to spend their money to watch his Chargers play.

Ticket prices will be the same in 1991 as they were in 1990 . . . and 1989 and 1988.

Good news.

Smart decision.

Also sensible and sensitive.

It would be tempting to suggest that raising ticket prices would have been foolhardy. After all, the Chargers were 6-10 in 1990 . . . as they were in 1989 and 1988. The argument would be that you cannot turn a paint-by-number into a masterpiece by raising the price.

However, we all know success never has been a criteria for holding ticket prices in line. To the contrary, the Padres raised their prices in spite of a succession of disappointing seasons. This increase was presumably based on a promise that none of the revenue will go to Jack Clark, Eric Show or Roseanne Barr.

So we get back to this decision being a smart one, as well as sensible and sensitive.

This is not an economic climate for gouging folks beyond what they are already being gouged. Businesses are trying to find ways of merely maintaining their fiscal positions, and many of these are painful. Not too many neighborhoods, in truth families, have avoided layoffs and salary freezes and the like.

Spanos would have incurred the wrath of the populace had he chosen to raise ticket prices. Fans would have implied that the additional revenue would buy him a new jet or at least a new set of golf clubs.

Indeed, Spanos does not enjoy the most positive of reputations hereabouts. He has been, probably is, perceived as a tough and even miserly absentee owner from Stockton. He has often talked of his fans, whereas the fans hereabouts consider this to be a rather egotistical affectation.

In truth, Spanos probably would not have damaged his reputation if he had raised prices. Fans raise a stink about such increases, whenever they occur. In this case, they would sniff and say they expected just such greediness, which is what they would have felt. Some would have gone ahead and renewed their season tickets and others wouldn’t.

And Spanos might have been justified in hiking prices. We’ll never know for sure, because none of us are privy to his books. But it does cost more to do business now than it did in 1988. You spend more for the same cut of beef than you did in 1988. A 6-10 football team would also figure to be more expensive.

Lest it be misinterpreted that I am arguing that Spanos should have raised ticket prices, let me make it clear that I think this is a case in which an owner who did not do something really had the fans in mind. This was a case of addition, at least in terms of goodwill, by omission.

Part of this is attributable to the fact that Spanos has always insisted he is a fan first, though most have snickered at this notion. But he wants the Chargers to win to the point that he swallows defeat like cod liver oil.

From an owner’s standpoint, he is embarrassed that his team has gone 6-10 for the last three seasons. This wounds him personally and, yes, bruises the ego.

So what we have here is a negative economic climate and a negative performance chart, the combination of which did not, to Spanos, seem to be an appropriate occasion for raising ticket prices.

At the same time, to be sure, the Chargers announced that ticket prices would be increased for the 1992 season. This is reasonable and no one should complain, presuming, of course, they don’t jump by $5 a seat or some such outrage.

It is also reasonable to assume that the Chargers will be a better football team this fall than they have been for the last three years. The franchise has been moving in the right direction and that improvement should be reflected in the record.

Given a chance to comment on his decision to refrain from raising ticket prices, Spanos himself was surprisingly gruff.

“I just wasn’t up to doing it,” he said. “Call it my good nature or whatever.”

Spanos was not talking in a good-natured manner. He wasn’t talking like he was doing anyone a favor. He was talking more like a disgruntled fan who wanted more for his money.

Alex Spanos was talking as if it should not really have been a surprise that ticket prices were not increased. Maybe it wasn’t news after all.