Showing the World Another Face : ’93 Super Bowl offers the L.A. area a chance to dispel the depressing images of the riots

The countdown to Super Bowl XXVII is on. Football fans are in 27th heaven. Even football widows are happy--gleefully anticipating the end of another season. But whether or not you care about the game itself, next Sunday’s contest between the Dallas Cowboys and the Buffalo Bills at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl is important to all of Southern California. When the 750 million viewers worldwide tune in to the Super Bowl, the Los Angeles area will be in the spotlight in an image-enhancing way.

Positive word of mouth from tens of thousands of visitors--who are likely to enjoy their stay here, if our monsoon-like winter lets up--should not just boost tourism in the short term but also help offset the negative images of Los Angeles that have become commonplace since last spring’s riots.

Super Bowl XXVII marks the seventh time the championship contest has come to the Los Angeles area--two games at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, five at the Rose Bowl. And it marks the first time that stadium officials in Los Angeles, Pasadena and Anaheim have wisely taken a regional approach to hosting the event. They banded together under a coalition led by the Los Angeles Sports Council and the City of Pasadena and successfully bid for the game, which was to be held in Phoenix before a civil rights controversy forced a change.

In years past, the three stadiums bid against each other to host the game. The competing interests often canceled each other out. Now the strategy is to rotate the site and package a bid that would result in the economic benefits--which this year are estimated at $150 million--being dispersed throughout the region.

National Football League sponsors, suppliers and licensees have booked 8,000 to 10,000 hotel rooms in downtown Los Angeles. The Bills will stay at a downtown hotel and practice at USC, while the Cowboys will be in Santa Monica and work out at UCLA. Pasadena will host a four-day NFL extravaganza in addition to the game. Cal State Fullerton in Orange County is site for one NFL youth football clinic. Restaurants, hotels and other businesses across the area will benefit.

To ease the game’s elitist image--game tickets this year are $175 each--the Super Bowl Host Committee has arranged for 750 needy and minority youngsters from throughout the region to participate in a day of festivities. The image of their cheerful faces, beamed to millions around the world when they share the halftime spotlight with singer Michael Jackson, will help send a message of hope for the healing and rebuilding of Los Angeles.