Dean Alexander Spanos is the chairman and owner of the National Football League 's Los Angeles Chargers franchise. He is the son of Alex Spanos, who purchased majority interest in the team in 1984. Spanos took over daily operations from his father in 1994, becoming president and CEO, until he passed operations to his own sons in 2015. Spanos took over full ownership after his father's death in 2018. Spanos is responsible for the Chargers move to LA from neighboring San Diego, earning him criticism from San Diego football fans, and managing to shoehorn his way into a shared tenant situation with the Galaxy until 2020, where the Chargers will share Sofi Stadium with the Rams.
Spanos was named team president and chief executive officer of the Chargers in early 1994. Under Spanos's leadership, the Chargers won 113 games between 2004 and 2014, which included five AFC West championships and four playoff game wins. In May 2015, Spanos ceded control of the team to his sons, John and A.G. He stayed on as chairman with the understanding he would oversee the new stadium process, which resulted in the team playing its home games in the 27,000 seat LA Galaxy's StubHub Center, which was not full for several games in 2017, and often has more seats filled by fans of the visiting team than Chargers fans. Spanos demanded the San Diego taxpayers finance a new stadium for the Chargers to be built in downtown San Diego. After 15 years of attempting to get others to pay for a downtown football stadium, a ballot measure to raise hotel room tax for a new stadium only received 43 percent approval.
Los Angeles Chargers
In January 2017, Spanos infamously exercised the option to relocate the team to Los Angeles. The move was met with criticism by the San Diego fan base, due to Spanos's lack of effort in attempting to find a stadium solution in San Diego. The team's temporary headquarters was in Costa Mesa under a 10 year lease. The 2017 season was played at the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park and the Chargers are scheduled to play at SoFi Stadium as a tenant of the Los Angeles Rams in 2020. Moving the Chargers from San Diego to Los Angeles was reportedly unpopular among San Diego citizens, specifically San Diego Tribune columnist Kevin Acee.
Philanthropy
In 1999, the family launched Chargers Champions through the Community Foundation to support local schools. In 2011 Spanos held a fundraiser for Rick Perry at a private event at Sacramento. In 2014, the Spanoses donated $500,000 to the University of California, San Diego for the Alex G. Spanos Athletic Performance Center. The donation brought their total support to UCSD to $1.6 million. He also led the Chargers to partner with the Susan G. Komen Foundation in San Diego in honor of his wife Susie, who is a breast cancer survivor. During his tenure with the Chargers, Spanos created The Chargers Champions All-Star Gala to recognize high school students and educators in the San Diego area. After Hurricane Harvey in 2017, Spanos and the Chargers donated $500,000 to hurricane relief.
Awards and recognition
In 2016, Spanos was ranked number 21 on the USA Today list of 100 most important people in the NFL. He was an honoree at the American Hellenic Council's Annual Awards Gala, which recognizes individuals from the Greek-American community. He was appointed to the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. in 2006. Spanos received the 2005 Distinguished American Award from the San Diego Chapter of the National Football Foundation. He was also awarded the 2004 Jose A. Cota Award for philanthropy and the Chargers support of law enforcement. In 2002, Spanos was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, 16 years after his father received the award. He also was inducted into the DeMolay International Alumni Hall of Fame.
