Dean Spanos, owner of the Los Angeles Chargers, sat down with Paul Corvino on Southern California's CEOs You Should Know:
Dean Spanos Bio:
Under the leadership of Dean Spanos, the Los Angeles Chargers continue to make bold moves that position the franchise for long-term success in the nation’s second largest media market. Thanks to Spanos’ senior counsel and strategic direction, the Chargers opened The Bolt in 2024, the team’s new El Segundo-based training facility and corporate headquarters. With its location in the heart of Los Angeles’ South Bay, the facility sits less than four miles from the Chargers’ iconic SoFi Stadium home, which helped usher in a new era in the team’s storied history upon opening in 2020.
Dean’s leadership is also present throughout the NFL. As a member of the Management Council Executive Committee, he played an integral role in negotiating the most recent labor agreement. Additionally, Spanos serves on the NFL’s Business Ventures Committee and previously held the role of Chairman in 2015. Inducted into the National Football Foundation (NFF) Leadership Hall of Fame in January 2023, aside from his football related duties, Dean serves as President of the A.G. Spanos Companies overseeing construction operations nationwide and supports the Greek Orthodox community as an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Dean, wife Susie, and his entire family have a multi-generational commitment to community involvement and are recognized as one of the NFL’s most philanthropic families. Their significant and impactful financial contributions, in addition to their emotional support for youth, sports, education and our brave men and women in uniform, have been a hallmark of their team ownership and legacy.
A major contributor to the American Red Cross and its disaster relief efforts over the past several decades, LA Food Bank and other regional foodbanks throughout the pandemic, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Make-A-Wish Foundation, American Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen, Girl Scouts, Special Olympics of Southern California, the Salvation Army and Huntington’s Disease Society to name just a few organizations, Dean and the Spanos family also created The Chargers Community Foundation – today known as the Los Angeles Chargers Impact Fund – that has provided nearly $13 million to support a wide range of services and program directly benefiting children and families.
In recent years, the Spanos family and Chargers have been honored as Red Cross LA's Humanitarian Organization of the Year and presented with the Mayor's Award from the Association of Corporate Growth (ACG) Los Angeles — both in recognition of the impact they have made in the greater Los Angeles community. Dean and Susie have also been honored with the Ambassador of Hope Award from Make-A-Wish Orange County and the Inland Empire, celebrating more than 20 years of partnership and support from the Spanos family and Chargers organization. Dean is also the recipient of the Aristeion Award in Business and Sports from the American Hellenic Council of California, the Loukoumi Make A Difference Foundation Inspiration Award and a second-generation recipient of the renowned Ellis Island Medal of Honor; earning the unique distinction 16 years after his father, Alex, was similarly honored.