THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 15, 1995 TAG: 9511150354
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
Baltimore Stallions owner Jim Speros, who continues to pit himself against Pirates president Lonie Glieberman in the Canadian Football League's race into Hampton Roads, is accustomed to the fast track to success.
He once told a reporter that the key tactical move in cutting a business deal was the element of surprise. This he provided Tuesday by insisting he remains interested in moving the Stallions to Hampton Roads, despite Glieberman's announcement earlier in the day that the Pirates have filed papers with the league expressing their intent to relocate here from Shreveport, La.
Late Tuesday, it was learned that the league determined Speros was wrong in claiming he had territorial rights in Hampton Roads and they were going to urge him to leave this area to the Gliebermans.
But does that action eliminate Speros? He has the reputation for overcoming the insurmountable.
``If you look at Jim's record, what he's accomplished in a short time, at how successful he's been in so many areas, it's really something,'' Speros' friend Pete Carroll, former New York Jets head coach and now defensive coordinator for the Francisco 49ers, told The Baltimore Sun nine months ago. ``He gets stuff done. Nothing's too big. In the business world, he's extremely successful. He's been able to maintain a high profile and swing with the big hitters.''
After four years in the NFL as strength coach for the Washington Redskins and Buffalo Bills, Speros got into commercial real estate. Within two years, he was named broker of the year in the Washington, D.C., area.
Speros purchased a couple of franchises in the Champions sports bar chain. Two years later, he was named to the board of directors, exchanging his rights for a stock position in the company.
On Feb. 17, 1994, his 35th birthday, Speros was formally introduced as owner of a CFL expansion franchise in Baltimore. He lost his fight with the NFL over his right to use the nickname ``Colts,'' but won the war for fans in Baltimore.
Last season, the team lost 26-23 to the British Columbia Lions in the Grey Cup, the CFL equivalent of the Super Bowl. Sunday in Regina, Saskatchewan, Speros' Stallions will try again to become the first American team to win the Grey Cup, this time against Doug Flutie and the Calgary Stampeders.
``I never had a financial letdown,'' he told The Sun. ``I never got myself into any bad deals. I attribute that to the people I surround myself with. The attorneys, the accountants, the consultants I use are smarter than I am.''
Lately, he has needed every bit of their expertise in defending criticism of what seemed the perfect empire.
The Stallions were able to feed off anti-NFL sentiments spawned when the Colts stole out of town to Indianapolis 12 years ago. Attendance at old Memorial Stadium that first season averaged a league-leading 36,377. But The Sun reported that as many as 10,500 fans a game got into Memorial Stadium without buying a ticket - most through corporate trades, others by virtue of an extensive marketing giveaway.
Speros admitted giveaways sometimes were excessive, but he disputed The Sun's numbers.
Despite first-season revenues of $7.9 million, Speros said the team lost $1.1 million. Speros said the loss could be traced to legal fees spent trying to gain use of the Colts name and to money spent on the face lift he gave Memorial Stadium. Otherwise, Speros argued, he would have broken even.
Two Baltimore companies sued Speros for non-payment of bills. He settled one suit, against the telemarketing firm of Success Holdings, out of court in December 1994. There were settlement talks in the second suit, filed by A&G Cleaning, which cleaned Memorial Stadium most of Baltimore's first season in the CFL. But the outcome could not be ascertained.
Speros told The Sun he withheld payment in both instances because he was overcharged. He estimated he paid $10 million in bills his first season and that Success Holdings and A&G totaled less than $50,000.
``I run all my businesses like this. I pay on 30 and 60 days,'' Speros said in 1994. ``I hold as much cash as I possibly can at all times. If anybody's complained, I haven't heard it.
``I run, in my opinion, a very tight operation. People tell me I squeak. That's fine with me. But that's how I run my operation.'' ILLUSTRATION: ABOUT SPEROS... Name: James L. Speros
Age: 36
High school: St. John's College High School, Washington, D.C.
College: Clemson University
Personal: Married, three children
Athletic accomplishments: All-Metro football player, Washington,
D.C.; member of Clemson's undefeated NCAA championship football team
in 1981; assistant coach (strength) Washington Redskins, '83-84;
assistant coach, Buffalo Bills, '85-86.
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