THE TIMES POLL : Most Want Coliseum Saved and Wouldn’t Miss Raiders

Unlike Los Angeles Raiders owner Al Davis, Southern Californians don’t want to see the Coliseum demolished, and they wouldn’t mind much if Davis made good on his threat to take his football team elsewhere.

If Davis and his Raiders were looking forward to fans clamoring for them to stay, they will be sorely tested by the conclusions of a new Los Angeles Times Poll of 1,901 residents in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Do you want to raze the Coliseum? No, said 54%.

Would you be upset if the Raiders moved? Not much, said 83%.

The Raiders not only have few friends in their effort to demolish the Coliseum, they also have fewer avid supporters, compared to other local teams. The Lakers, the Dodgers, the Rams--even “I follow no team closely”--rank higher in popularity than the Raiders, although the football team did out-poll the Clippers and the Kings.

The Times Poll, conducted Feb. 3-7, sought to gauge public opinion on two proposals emanating from Davis’ public struggle over the fate of the Coliseum and the turf from which he will mount future assaults on the Super Bowl.

The poll, directed by I.A. Lewis, has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Under a plan conceived by the stadium’s private managers to satisfy Davis, the 67-year-old Coliseum--the only site of two modern Olympic Games--would be torn down except for its peristyle end. Two hundred luxury boxes and up to 15,000 club seats would be added, bringing total capacity to 70,000 seats. As it exists today, the stadium holds 92,655.

More recently, those involved in battling over the fate of the Coliseum have suggested that it should be spruced up inside but retain its outer shell. That option proved popular among those polled, with more than half saying they would go along with a refurbishing.

Yet there was also significant sentiment for keeping the Coliseum the way it is.

Three-quarters of the respondents said they had been to the Coliseum for some event. And, three-quarters described themselves as “satisfied” with the stadium’s size and physical layout.

There was some good news for Davis. Despite their objections to his goals, Southern Californians were not taking out their disagreements on Davis himself.

Asked what sort of impression they had of Davis, 23% said “favorable.” Nineteen percent said their impression was “unfavorable.” And fully half said they did not know enough about Davis to form an impression.

Overall, the poll demonstrated that the Raiders have yet to occupy a favored niche even in the hearts of the area’s sports fans.

The Lakers led in popularity everywhere but Orange County, where the home-county Rams edged them out. In Los Angeles County, 42% said they followed the Lakers more than any other team; in Orange County, the Rams led with 33%. The Raiders, in contrast, were most closely followed by only 17% of those living in the city of Los Angeles and 15% of those living in the county. Only 10% of the Orange County residents who responded to the poll said they followed the Raiders.

Overall, two-thirds said they followed sports teams, and one-third did not. But opinions were nonetheless firm on the matter of the Coliseum’s future.

While more than half objected to razing the Coliseum, only a third favored that move. Only half of those who supported demolition said they felt “strongly” that the stadium should be demolished. Two out of every five people, however, said they felt strongly that the demolition should be prevented.

Opposition to the move was equally strong in Los Angeles and Orange counties, indicating that the Coliseum remains a popular regional landmark. Opinion was close only among Latinos, of whom 42% favored demolition and 48% opposed it.

Similarly, residents of both Los Angeles and Orange counties approved a less destructive refurbishing, although support was moderate. Overall, 56% favored refurbishing, and less than half of those said they felt “strongly” about it. Davis’ demands, which include not only the new stadium but the payment of tens of millions of dollars to his team, appear to have engendered little sympathy.

When the details were explained, only 17% said Los Angeles should “do whatever it takes” to keep the Raiders, while 65% said the city should look instead for another team. Support for the Raiders was higher among blacks and Latinos. Almost a third of the blacks in the poll said the city should try to keep the football team, while 28% of Latinos supported that view.

Blacks and Latinos also were more likely to say they would be upset if the Raiders left--but the results still were enough to make the team wince. Only 15% said they would be fairly upset if the Raiders moved, compared to the 83% who said they didn’t care much. Even among blacks and Latinos, almost three out of every four people said they would not care much if the team left.

As for who should replace the Raiders if Davis makes good on his threat, half said they would like the prodigal Rams to return, and another 18% said they should not. A third were undecided--perhaps waiting for another choice.

Even in Orange County, opinion as to whether the Rams should return to the Coliseum was mixed. Thirty-one percent said the Rams should return home, while 38% objected, presumably wanting the team to stay put in Anaheim.

The poll did confirm that most sports fans--indeed, most Raiders fans--watch the games via television or radio and rarely set foot in the Coliseum. Only 8% said they had attended a Raiders’ game during the past season, and most of them attended one or two games.

The Rams, in comparison, had drawn 10% of the respondents during the last football year.

Views on the Coliseum Do you want to tear down the Coliseum? Yes: 33% No: 54 Don’t know: 13 Would you be upset if the Raiders moved away? Great deal: 5% Sports fans: 6 Fairly: 10 Sports fans: 13 Not much: 16 Sports fans: 19 Hardly at all: 67 Sports fans: 62 Don’t know: 2 Sports fans: 0 Should Los Angeles do whatever Al Davis wants or look for another team? Do what he wants: 71% Sports fans: 22 Look for another team: 65 Sports fans: 65 Don’t know: 18 Sports fans: 13 What teams do you follow more closely? Lakers: 39% Don’t follow any team closely: 30 Dodgers: 29 Rams: 26 Angels: 15 Raiders: 14 Clippers: 6 Kings: 6 Source: Los Angeles Times Poll