Promoter Berg dies — had ties to 49ers, Quakes

Dick Berg, a sports promoter who coined the terms “49er Faithful” for the team’s fans and the nickname Earthquakes for San Jose’s soccer team, has died. He was 74.

Berg, who quarterbacked Stanford to its first victory over Notre Dame, a 24-14 win at Stanford Stadium in 1963, died March 2 at an Alzheimer’s care unit in Hayward.

He was the Earthquakes’ first general manager. His son, Brady, said the North American Soccer League initially rejected the name San Jose Earthquakes because officials wanted San Francisco in the name.

But Brady Berg said: “My dad stuck to his guns. It was important to him that the team be rooted in San Jose. He was selling the first professional franchise in that community.”

A native of Puyallup, Wash., Berg started promoting sports while attending law school at the University of Washington and working for the Seattle Chamber of Commerce. He helped the city lure an NBA expansion team, the SuperSonics, and became the team’s director of marketing.

He also continued to work with the Chamber of Commerce to pass a bond measure in 1968 that would provide funding for the Seattle Kingdome. The move helped pave the way for Seattle to be awarded the Seahawks’ expansion NFL franchise in 1976 and, a year later, the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball.

Berg’s time with the Sonics was short-lived. He also was playing quarterback and serving as general manager for the Seattle Rangers of the Continental Football League. Berg helped coordinate an exhibition game for the 49ers at Husky Stadium in 1968. The 49ers were so impressed with Berg, they offered him a job as their director of marketing.

Berg had a reputation for boosting the attendance of every team for which he worked, including the Dallas Tornado of the NASL and the Los Angeles Express of the United States Football League. He also helped promote the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and managed a chain of gyms owned by the family of pop icon Michael Jackson.

“He had a great imagination,” former Chronicle columnist Glenn Dickey said. “He coined the term ‘Faithful,’ but at the time, the 49ers’ fans were anything but. I think he was trying to shame them into being loyal. Some of his ideas were good, and some were crazy.”

Dickey wrote a book with Berg, “Eavesdropping America,” about Berg’s 15-month journey with his dog around the country in a motor home. The trip was inspired by John Steinbeck’s “Travels With Charlie.” Berg also lived for stretches of his life in England, Florida and Kenya.

According to Berg’s family, his life was not without misfortune. His 2-year-old son, Bryan, drowned in an accident at his home in California. Berg was married and divorced three times. In the final years of his life, he suffered from dementia. Curious whether it might have been a result of his football career, he stipulated that his brain be donated for research at Boston University.

Berg is survived by his son, Brady, of Livermore; his daughter, Alexa, of Florida, and his brother, Russ, of Renton, Wash.