ESCONDIDO - Chargers Vice President Jim Steeg helped stage Super Bowls for the National Football League for 25 years and said San Diego will miss out on the tourist dollars tied to the sport's biggest game without a new stadium.

"The sentiment in the league used to be that San Diego was one of the best sites, along with Miami, New Orleans and Phoenix," Steeg said yesterday at a luncheon meeting of the Downtown Business Association of Escondido.

Steeg said the city's popularity with the league would return it to the Super Bowl short list. But some sports economists say there are so many new stadiums in the league that San Diego could expect to host a Super Bowl only every 10 to 15 years.

The Chargers have narrowed their search for a stadium site to Oceanside, National City and Chula Vista. The team is paying $200,000 for a land-use consultant to analyze sites in Chula Vista and paying the city's staff costs as it continues talks with the other cities.

Steeg, who is also the team's chief operating officer, said Chargers revenue has risen over the 2 ½ years he has been on the job. The team expects to sell out all general-admission seats for the coming season, and last year all 130 luxury suites were sold out.

But he told the about 75 people at the lunch that the team's annual revenue is near the bottom of the 32-team league. He said the league's wealthiest team, the Washington Redskins, brings in as much as $120 million more a year than the Chargers, putting the team at an economic disadvantage in signing and keeping top players and coaches.

"The problem is the way the league has developed," Steeg said. "Sixty percent of every dime we take in goes to the players."

He said team President Dean Spanos is committed to keeping the team in the county but said it is unlikely a new stadium would be built at the Qualcomm Stadium site because of San Diego's financial problems, among other impediments.

While he didn't rank the three local cities as possible stadium locations, he said the team has been encouraged by its contact with Oceanside officials despite some opposition.

Last week, Oceanside City Councilwoman Esther Sanchez said she opposes a stadium in the city because she does not believe the council will protect the interests of taxpayers in developing the project, estimated to cost as much as $1 billion.

After Steeg's appearance, audience members talked about the proposal for an Oceanside stadium.

David Barkin, a lawyer and president of the business association, said Oceanside has ample rail access and a favorable stadium site at the city's 71.7-acre Center City Golf Course. He said it would open up business opportunities for North County.

However, traffic congestion on Interstate 5 and state Route 78 is a challenge, Barkin said.

"If we get beyond those issues, I think that a stadium will become something that's exciting for a corporation back east that wants to come out west," he said.

Mike Boyle, general counsel for an Escondido environmental construction company, was more cautious in his comments. He served as an adviser to San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and was part of a task force for the San Diego County Taxpayers Association that analyzed the economic impact of Petco Park.

"I'm not sure the economic increase merits the public investment," he said.