Kings Owners Will Make Bid for NFL Team

The owners of the Los Angeles Kings say they will tell NFL owners at formal meetings beginning Monday in San Diego that they are committed to making a $500-million investment to get pro football back to Los Angeles in 2000 in a new Coliseum.

Edward Roski Jr. and Philip Anschutz, who anticipate final City Council approval next week of their $240-million downtown sports arena for the Kings and Lakers, will become the first prospective owners to present a specific plan to the NFL since the departure of the Rams and Raiders after the 1994 season.

The Kings’ owners, recruited by City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas to lead the Coliseum effort, told The Times they are taking deposits from local businesses for luxury suites in a new stadium to be built within the walls of the Coliseum, and will deliver them to the NFL as an indication of their resolve.

“We’re going to make it happen,” said Roski, president of Majestic Reality and 30% owner of the Kings. “We’re committed to move this thing fast, and we have the ability to perform. . . . We would like to have this stadium opened by 2000.

“If I was a football fan in Los Angeles right now, I would be excited, because there is finally some leadership here willing to run with the ball.”

Roski and Anschutz, who represent themselves as a 50-50 partnership in the football project, said they will be asking for favorable consideration from NFL owners at the league’s meetings in October, and then will ask for a final vote awarding them an expansion franchise or approval to buy an existing franchise at the owners’ annual gathering in March.

The NFL does not allow 50-50 partnership, so either Roski or Anschutz, whose empire was valued at $2.2 billion by Forbes magazine a year ago, will have to step forward as majority owner.

Roski will represent the partnership at the meetings in San Diego.

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who has suggested expansion as a possibility in Los Angeles, said, “We are aware of their interest through Mark Ridley-Thomas and we look forward to hearing their ideas.”

The NFL agenda for the San Diego meetings calls for an update on Los Angeles, but instead of making a formal pitch before NFL ownership, Roski and Anschutz are expected to be squired from owner to owner to discuss their bid.

“If this isn’t a community effort, it won’t matter who leads the project. We know this isn’t going to be easy, but we’re committed to trying,” Anschutz said.

Anschutz and Roski said they will not be asking for any public money and do not envision the sale of personal seat licenses to help finance the construction of a new stadium costing $240 million to $250 million, or the $250 million to $300 million that would be required to start an expansion team of buy an existing team.

The Kings’ owners looked into buying the Dodgers and the team’s Chavez Ravine property for football, but no advanced discussions ever took place.

They now contend that the partnership struck with Los Angeles city politicians during arena negotiations--in which they would not have to bear the cost of land and infrastructure improvements such as new highway exits outside Exposition Park--make the Coliseum the only practical site for the return of professional football to Los Angeles.

The Coliseum has already undergone about $100 million in work because of 1994 earthquake damage and is also eligible for special financial consideration because of its historical standing.

There has been speculation that the Fox television network and owner Rupert Murdoch might bid for an NFL team, but the Coliseum site has political backing and and therefore is believed to have a head start on Murdoch’s plan. There is also some concern that Murdoch’s television interests in the NFL might present a conflict of interest in owning a team.

“[Murdoch] does not change our plans,” said Roski, who will be offering the new Coliseum for UCLA’s use, too. “In our opinion, the Coliseum is the one location that an NFL team can be located in.”

There is work to do in the NFL, however, if that is to become the prevailing opinion.

“We have been studying the Coliseum issue, as far as a potential new site is concerned,” said Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen. “With the apparent acquisition by Rupert Murdoch of the Los Angeles Dodgers there is new hope that something might happen in Chavez Ravine. As far as Phil [Anschutz] is concerned, I really haven’t heard anything yet.”

In a move designed to eliminate NFL roadblocks, the Kings owners will not demand Super Bowls, as the Dodgers and Hollywood Park considered doing, as a means of marketing and financing their project. They believe the league will bring the Super Bowl to Los Angeles again if given an attractive stadium option.

Demanding an NFL team in time for the 2000 season--even with billion-dollar clout--and getting it are not the same thing. Countless rich men willing to pay any dues to join the club have been disappointed by the NFL.

The best thing Anschutz and Roski have going now may be Cleveland.

When the Browns left Cleveland to become the Baltimore Ravens, the NFL made a commitment to Cleveland to provide an expansion franchise or an existing team to begin play in 1999. Ground was broken for a new stadium there Thursday. The fans of Cleveland have asked for an expansion franchise, and if the NFL expands, it will surely add two teams.

A majority of league owners, however, have expressed great reluctance to expand and might endorse the move of the financially strapped Indianapolis Colts to Cleveland as a quick fix, avoiding expansion.

To catch the NFL owners’ attention, Roski and Anschutz have begun collecting $10,000 deposits for luxury suites in the new Coliseum, with the intention of selling 50 to 75 of the 140 in the next month.

“I think it would be a benefit to NFL owners to understand the commitment of the community,” Roski said.

The new Coliseum plan, while winning political backing from Los Angeles city officials and prompting Dodger owner Peter O’Malley to abandon plans to build a football stadium, failed to change the perception of NFL owners at two previous meetings. There was no potential owner then, and the plan’s financing strategy was considered seriously flawed.

NFL President Neil Austrian, while still indicating that the Coliseum has an exclusive window of opportunity to make something happen in Los Angeles, recently told Mayor Richard Riordan in a letter that the Coliseum’s financing plans were not feasible for the return of football.

“This is something that was needed to take it to the next level, someone willing to commit time and money to make it happen,” Roski said. “The overall problem in the past is, nobody has been willing to present themselves as an entity to advance this proposal.”

The Kings owners said they will be putting together their own financing plan, and although they believe they can present an attractive balance sheet, they realize they will need more to tip owners in their favor.

NFL owners, still recalling their visits to Raider games, have suggested that they will never entertain the idea of returning. This perception has been reinforced by national media representatives, who recall needing security escorts to their cars after every Raider game.

“I have never had anyone provide an actual reason why football cannot be successful in the Coliseum,” said Roski, a 1962 graduate of USC. “USC games are extremely successful, and both games are played at the same time--the only difference being, one is played on Saturday and one on Sunday.

“But if there’s a perception of a problem out there, then it’s up to us to change it.”

Los Angeles football fans, perceived elsewhere as apathetic after the loss of the Rams and Raiders, will have to decide if the Roski-Anschutz tandem provides any more confidence than previous football owners, Al Davis of the Raiders and Georgia Frontiere of the Rams.

“We believe people here will enthusiastically embrace the return of football,” Roski said. “This is one sport that affects more households than any of the others.

“I think Southern California suffered tremendously when the Rams moved from the Coliseum. We had all grown up with them and had an attachment with them. . . . There was never really an attachment with the Raiders because of the moving controversy.”

So far under the guidance of Roski and Anschutz, who were handicapped somewhat after pulling the organization out of bankruptcy, the Kings have been less than impressive, with attendance falling off. They have also chosen to take a low profile, a tactic that might sabotage efforts to rally fan support for the return of football to the Coliseum.

“We have had support from longtime Kings fans, but for us to capture the hearts of everyone else, sure, we’re going to need to produce a winning team,” Roski said. “We know football is different, and we want to be visible and make ourselves available. We’ll show leadership.”