San Diego Magazine / August 2003 / John Lynch

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John Lynch

John Lynch went to the Super Bowl on crutches. He’d just had double knee-replacement surgery. But more than 50 family members and friends were in town in January to watch his son, John Jr., and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Oakland Raiders to claim an NFL championship. It was a vicarious, thrilling and exhausting day for the former Drake University tight end and linebacker. The elder Lynch was drafted in 1969 by the Pittsburgh Steelers, but those knees—battered even then—kept him off a pro field.

Sid Gilman tried to get him to try out for the Chargers, but Lynch plowed into the Chicago business world. He came to San Diego in ’72 as a 25-year-old sales manager with the company that took over KFMB Radio. Lynch then cofounded a group that bought a series of stations (including XTRA Sports) and created alternative-rock station 91X. Lynch bought 100 percent of the company, grew it to 25 stations and then sold to Jacor Communications in 1996 for $152 million.

A five-year noncompete agreement kept Lynch out of radio. He spent time presiding over the San Diego International Sports Council, and was vital in lining up the Torrey Pines course for golf’s 2008 U.S Open.

But now he’s back in “show business in its smallest form,” he says. Lynch’s new Mighty 1090 station offers 24/7 local sports coverage on the AM dial. In a quick coup, he landed deals to air Padres and SDSU games. “This makes us major players—almost immediately,” he says.

But Lynch doesn’t plan to rebuild a dynasty. “We’ll go for two to four other stations,” he says. “I see a role these days for small, independent operators.” Small—but mighty.