Anaheim Threatens to Sue if L.A. Tries to Lure Rams
Anaheim’s city attorney threatened Wednesday to sue any group that attempts to woo the Los Angeles Rams away from Anaheim Stadium, where they have a 35-year lease.
“I think they ought to consult with legal counsel,” said City Atty. Jack L. White in response to reports that the Rams had approached the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission about a possible return to the franchise’s former home, the Coliseum.
The Rams have been embroiled in a legal dispute with the California Angels over development at Anaheim Stadium and recently suffered a setback when a judge struck down a provision in the deal that originally lured the National Football League franchise away from Los Angeles to the Big A eight years ago.
Anaheim officials said Wednesday they had been surprised to learn of talks about a Rams departure and dismissed the reports as speculation.
“I talked with the Rams just yesterday,” Anaheim City Councilman William D. Erhle said. “I’m sure something would have been said. Our discussions were far from any move.”
Irving Azoff, a partner with the Coliseum’s new private managers, told The Times that the Rams had asked for talks about a move. Wednesday, however, he had no comment on Anaheim’s threat of litigation, a spokesman said.
And a spokesman in the Rams’ head office said he had no comment on “anything having to do with the Rams’ situation and the Coliseum.”
On Tuesday, a Rams official denied having any discussions with the Coliseum’s managers about a move.
Azoff, however, said the request for talks came several times, through a third party.
Even though it was Azoff who disclosed the discussions, there was speculation Wednesday that the reports of a move may be a bargaining ploy by the Rams in their talks with Anaheim over a development project.
Rumors of a possible move by the Rams back to the Coliseum were first reported a year ago, then quietly went away. Since then, however, the Rams have suffered a major legal setback that devalued their location in Anaheim.
On June 14, Orange County Superior Court Judge Frank D. Domenichini struck down a key provision in the deal that brought the Rams from the Coliseum to Anaheim Stadium in 1980.
Under the provision, a partnership of the Rams’ owners and a Boston-based development company was given rights to build a $200-million office complex and parking garage in the stadium parking lot.
The stadium’s other major tenant, the California Angels, objected and sued the city, saying the American League baseball franchise would lose needed parking space.
Since the court ruling, however, Anaheim has been negotiating with the Rams in private about a scaled-down project in the stadium parking lot or moving the development to unoccupied city land, White said.
One city official involved in the talks said “it’s a possibility” that the Rams may have wanted to use rumors of a possible move as leverage in talks with the city.
But White said: “I have no idea if that is in the Rams’ minds. I’ve seen that happen with other teams in other cities as something used to sweeten a deal. But (the Rams) haven’t discussed it with us, and I don’t want to speculate.”
Joel Ralph, Coliseum general manager, said he knows of no talks with the Rams. However, he would be delighted if the franchise returns, he said.
“I would be thrilled. I would welcome them with open arms,” Ralph said.
2 Teams Sharing 1 Field
There would be no problem in having two football teams share one playing field, he said. The New York Jets and the New York Giants share a stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., he pointed out.
“The NFL makes the schedule of home and away games. You schedule it so one team’s on the road,” he said.
If the Rams leave, Anaheim would lose both prestige and money.
“We would sure hate to lose the Rams,” said Allan R. Hughes, executive director of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce. “They’re not only a real asset to the community, they’re a part of the community.”
Last year, in a strike-shortened season, revenue from Rams games brought $4.4 million to the city’s coffers, Anaheim Audit Manager Ken Stone said.
But the city also spent $2.6 million for parking, security and usher services during the football season, said.
Not included in that revenue, however, is money spent by more than half a million fans each year at area restaurants, shops and hotels, Stone said.
“Putting a figure on that is pretty hard to do, but it would be significant,” he said.
Councilwoman Miriam Kaywood said Wednesday that there had been short-lived talk of the Rams possibly leaving Anaheim last year while the Angels’ lawsuit was still in court.
“But I haven’t heard anything now about the Rams being unhappy,” she said, adding that “rumors are cheap, and answering them sometimes creates substance.”
Whether the talk of the Rams’ departure is just a rumor, a trial balloon or a bargaining tool, City Atty. White said the football team “has a commitment to stay.”
