Dean Alexander Spanos (born May 26, 1950) is the chairman and owner of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL)'s San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers franchise. He is the son of

Alex Spanos Alexander Gus Spanos (September 28, 1923 – October 9, 2018) was an American billionaire real estate developer, founder of the A. G. Spanos Companies, and the majority owner of the San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football Lea ...

, 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.

Early life and education

Spanos was raised in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...

, the son of Alex Spanos and Faye Papafaklis, both of Greek ancestry. He attended Lincoln High School where he earned varsity letters in football and golf and received the Lincoln High Hall of Fame Award. He graduated from the

University of the Pacific University of the Pacific may refer to: *University of the Pacific (Colombia) *University of the Pacific (Ecuador) *University of the Pacific (Peru) * University of the Pacific (United States) *University of Asia Pacific, Bangladesh * University of ...

in 1972.

Chargers

Spanos was named team president and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the Chargers in early 1994. Under Spanos's leadership, the Chargers won 113 games between 2004 and 2014, which included five

AFC West The American Football Conference – Western Division or AFC West is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division comprises the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las ...

championships and four playoff game wins. In May 2015, Spanos ceded control of the team to his sons, John and A.G., though he stayed on as chairman to oversee a failed new stadium process. After a proposed ballot measure for a hotel tax financed stadium plan in downtown San Diego failed in November 2016 with only 43 percent approval, the Chargers weighed their option to return to the Los Angeles market. In January 2017, Spanos exercised the option to relocate the team to Los Angeles. The move was met with criticism by San Diego due to not being able to find a stadium solution in the city, despite 15 years of failed proposals blocked by city officials and business leaders. The team's temporary headquarters is currently in Costa Mesa under a 10-year lease until a permanent location in the Los Angeles area is acquired. The 2017 through 2019 seasons were played at a soccer stadium, Dignity Health Sports Park (known as StubHub Center until 2019). In 2020, construction was completed on the Chargers' new stadium, SoFi Stadium, which is shared with the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

. The venue is owned and operated by StadCo LA, LLC., a joint partnership with Kroenke Sports & Entertainment and the Los Angeles Chargers.

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 James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 and as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republica ...

at a private event at Sacramento. In 2014, the Spanoses donated $500,000 to the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

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 Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest t ...

in 2017, Spanos and the Chargers donated $500,000 to hurricane relief.

Awards and recognition

In 2016, Spanos was ranked number 21 on the ''

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'' list of 100 most important people in the NFL. He was an honoree at the American Hellenic Council's (AHC) 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 The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

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 The Ellis Island Medal of Honor is an American award founded by the Ellis Island Honors Society (EIHS) (formerly known as the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO)), which is presented annually to American citizens, both native-born a ...

, 16 years after his father received the award. He also was inducted into the DeMolay International Alumni Hall of Fame.Dean A. Spanos profile
demolay.org; accessed September 24, 2016. Long time San Diego sportswriter Nick Canepa refers to Mr. Spanos as, "Fredo, " a reference to Don Corleone's dim witted son in "The Godfather".

References

External links

Biography
from Chargers.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Spanos, Dean 1950 births Living people Los Angeles Chargers executives People from Stockton, California American people of Greek descent Los Angeles Chargers owners