Rose Bowl Can Handle XXXII if San Diego Slips

NEW ORLEANS —  The Rose Bowl is available, and Los Angeles area city officials said they could do all the work required to put on Super Bowl XXXII next January if San Diego continues to have problems with the expansion of San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said the league “may have to think of the unthinkable” and move the Super Bowl out of San Diego to an alternative site, although plans still call for it to remain where it is.

San Diego city officials have been fighting with tax activists on the legalities of authorizing $78 million for stadium expansion. The city has already earmarked $60 million for the project and the court system has supported its right to raise the funds through bonds without conducting a referendum.

Because of the delay caused by going to court on the matter, however, $18 million more is required to contend with increasing construction costs, and that might be subject to a referendum.

Tagliabue said the Super Bowl would remain in San Diego if the $18 million is the only challenge facing city officials. But he said if the $60 million already approved for spending became an issue, the league would move the game and the Chargers would probably have to play the 1997 season elsewhere.

Construction has already begun on the stadium.

“Los Angeles absolutely could do it,” said Rick Welch, chairman of the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission. “We welcome the opportunity to host the Super Bowl in the Rose Bowl.”

There are already clauses in the contracts of UCLA and the Galaxy clearing the way for a Super Bowl, if necessary, and Los Angeles is the only large city in a warm-weather climate with the hotel rooms to accommodate a Super Bowl crowd on such short notice.

The NFL has yet to contact Rose Bowl officials, an indication it believes San Diego will not lose the Super Bowl, but it’s known the Rose Bowl is No. 1 on its list if the emergency arises.