Super Bowl vision blurry for Oakland

Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

By David Holbrook

June 15, 2000 Web posted at: 11:27 AM EDT (1527 GMT)

OAKLAND, California (Contra Costa Times) -- Oakland hopes to draw the eyes of nearly a billion people who are expected to watch the 2005 Super Bowl, but the city's dreams may rest heavily on the whims of just two men.

Oakland must meet 20 pages of conditions the National Football League requires for cities that want to host the Super Bowl, from first-rate hotel rooms to golf courses to luxury limousines. Those will be relatively easy to meet given the Bay Area's wealth of amenities.

What is proving more problematic is winning the help of two men the league said it wants behind Oakland's effort: San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and Raiders boss Al Davis.

Since San Francisco will play a major role in an Oakland-hosted Super Bowl, the league wants a simple declaration of support from Brown. So far, the mayor has refused out of fear that Oakland's success could delay San Francisco's own chance to host the game in the future.

Meanwhile, Oakland Raiders boss Davis has also refused to back Oakland's bid, at least until his litigation with the city and Alameda County is resolved. Davis' antagonistic relationship with the league might not make him the most influential lobbyist for Oakland's cause anyway, but the league has said it wants the Raiders on board with local boosters.

Those who have helped bring the Super Bowl to their own cities said the Brown and Davis factors are two strikes against Oakland.

"The decision on who gets the Super Bowl is much more political now," said Leonard Levy, a Tampa Bay businessman who helped bring three Super Bowls to the city. "You've got to work the owners. You have to have a solid showing of support from the civic leaders."

Atlanta, Jacksonville and Miami, which are also bidding for the 2005 game, don't share the same dilemma as Oakland.

Atlanta and Miami have already proven themselves by hosting the last two championship games. Neither city suffers from fractured political support or an indifferent owner.

Jacksonville also benefits from solid political backing and a supportive owner who carries great clout with the NFL. In fact, the league is so impressed with what the Jaguars' owner has done with the franchise it has already guaranteed the city a Super Bowl.

"There will be a Super Bowl in Jacksonville," said Jim Steeg, the league's vice president for special events. "If not 2005, then perhaps sometime later in the decade."

Many observers believe the contest for the 2005 game will boil down to Jacksonville and Oakland. Atlanta and Miami are proven hosts, and they are possibly in the race as backups should Jacksonville and Oakland fail to impress the league.

"There's always going to be cities such as Miami, New Orleans and Los Angeles that get the Super Bowl over and over," Levy said. "It's the little guys that have to prove themselves."

Jacksonville and Oakland may share underdog status, but they face different obstacles.

Though Jacksonville has an influential owner who wooed the league in 1993 to win an expansion franchise, the city lacks first-rate hotel rooms, fancy restaurants and expensive entertainment venues. All are required to draw the high-rollers the league entertains each year.

Jacksonville's answer to the dilemma, however, could be one of its selling points. The city has proposed mooring nine cruise ships in the St. Johns River, which winds past Alltel Stadium.

"It's really kind of become the highlight of our proposal," said Heather Surface of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, an arm of the mayor's office. "The ports would all be on city-owned property. We're not proposing something that's beyond our reach."

Jacksonville lacks the Bay Area's tourism draw, but the region has plenty of golf courses, beaches and resort activities to satisfy the league. Local boosters are already claiming the 2005 Super Bowl is theirs to lose.

"That's fine," said Zennie Abraham, president of Oakland's Super Bowl commission. "Let Jacksonville lose, and the Super Bowl can fall right in Oakland's lap."

Abraham acknowledges Brown is Oakland's major challenge, but Abraham believes the mayor can be converted to Oakland's cause. Oakland and San Francisco are not competing for the game, he said, since the league has already guaranteed San Francisco a Super Bowl if it builds a new stadium.

Brown has yet to meet face-to-face with Oakland's boosters. Members of Brown's staff said Oakland's bid has been presented to the mayor but acknowledged they have never asked the league whether Oakland's success would influence a future San Francisco bid.

League officials said it would not, but Brown still refuses to budge.

"At this time, all we can say is the mayor supports hosting the Super Bowl in San Francisco," said Ron Vinson, Brown's deputy press secretary.

Regarding the Raiders, Abraham discounts any major influence the team and Davis might have on the league's decision. He notes Davis did not object when the league invited Oakland to bid on the game, and the team's legal dispute with the city and county is likely to be over by 2005.

The team is seeking more than $1 billion in damages from the city and county, claiming Coliseum officials fraudulently promised the Raiders a soldout stadium to lure them back to Oakland. The case is scheduled to go to trial next year.

"The team's support (for the Super Bowl bid) will be determined by the outcome of our lawsuit," said Bruce Allen, the team's senior assistant.

Under normal circumstances, Super Bowl boosters have the benefit of a supportive owner who can cozy up to fellow owners. That is not possible with Davis, who has alienated the league with repeated lawsuits and charges of wrongdoing.

Abraham said he is picking up the slack and courting league owners himself.

"That's how we got this far," he said.

Working in Oakland's favor, the Bay Area offers more than enough first-rate hotel rooms, restaurants and other luxury amenities to satisfy the league. The 1985 Super Bowl was hosted by San Francisco and held at Stanford University.

What Oakland lacks is 12,000 seats needed to boost attendance at the Coliseum to the league-required minimum of 70,000. Private sponsors or revenue from naming rights at the Coliseum are expected to cover the costs.

Abraham believes it will be relatively easy to raise the estimated $8.2 million for the seats. What he wants even more is a single letter from Brown in support of Oakland's bid.

"We don't want his money or anything else," Abraham said.

What's at stake for Oakland and the region is an estimated 100,000 fans who would spend tens of millions during the week leading up to the game. The NFL estimated the 1998 Super Bowl in Miami brought $670 million in increased sales to the area, though most economists say the figure is grossly inflated.

Robert Baade, an economist at Lake Forest College outside Chicago, arrived at a much lower figure after completing a detailed study of the 1998 Super Bowl.

"The most I could tease out of the numbers was about $60 million," he said. "That was giving the NFL every benefit of the doubt."

Given the Bay Area is already a major destination for business trips and tourists, many Super Bowl fans will simply replace other visitors, Baade said. He offers a casual estimate that the game could draw about $50 million to the region, about one-fifth of what Oakland's boosters are estimating.

But perhaps most important to Super Bowl promoters is the pride their city gets hosting an event watched by 800 million television viewers this year. Oakland is particularly in need of a morale boost when it comes to professional sports.

"That's something that can only be measured psychologically," Baade said.

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