THE TIMES POLL : New Arena Unneeded in O.C., 57% Say

About 57% of Orange County residents say they do not believe that a new sports arena is needed in the county, despite plans to build state-of-the art indoor facilities in Santa Ana and Anaheim.

Nevertheless, according to The Times Poll, there appears to be plenty of fans willing to attend National Basketball Assn. or National Hockey League games if either arena is built. And those with a preference for a city overwhelmingly prefer Anaheim to Santa Ana.

Despite a tradition of fiscal conservatism, nearly two-thirds of Orange County residents either favor using public funds for a new sports arena or would approve of taxpayer support, depending “on the circumstances.”

Even though most people don’t think a new arena is needed, chief negotiators for the competing projects said the poll results show broad-based patronage for the arenas they hope to build.

“I think it’s tremendous support for what we’ve been saying, particularly when that’s reflected in numbers of people” rather than in percentages, said Neal Papiano, attorney for Ogden Corp., which hopes to build a $95-million arena in Anaheim.

Also upbeat was Tony Guanci, of King Guanci Development Inc. of Newport Beach, which is working with Spectacor Management Services and MCA Entertainment to bring a $75-million arena to Santa Ana.

“On the whole, I think it’s a good indication that the NBA and the NHL . . . would be supported in Orange County,” Guanci said. “That’s why we believe strongly that there are teams that would like to relocate in Orange County.”

The poll, directed by I.A. Lewis, has a margin of error of plus or minus four points on results from Orange County, and three points for results tabulated from Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Santa Ana and Anaheim each hopes to lure NBA or NHL franchises to play in their as-yet unbuilt indoor arenas. If an arena is built, 43% of those questioned said they would attend NBA games and 39% said they would attend NHL games.

In a county of 1.7 million adult residents, this means that there may be 663,000 to 731,000 adults willing to buy tickets, seemingly more than enough to regularly fill the 20,000-seat arenas proposed in both cities.

“The fact that there is that much interest is very exciting,” Papiano said. “Keep in mind, you are only talking about 20,000 seats.”

Among those polled by The Times was Terry Miller of Fullerton, who said she probably would not attend basketball or hockey games in an Orange County arena because she is “not a sports-minded person.”

However, “my husband follows basketball, and I think he probably would,” Miller said. “The only reason he doesn’t attend them (basketball games) right now is he doesn’t like driving that far” to Los Angeles and Inglewood, where the area’s only two NBA franchises are located.

The Times Poll also found that the median ticket price residents are willing to pay to attend professional basketball and hockey games is near to the existing price of tickets in the NBA and NHL.

The average price that those polled said they would be willing to pay for NBA tickets is $19.30 and for NHL tickets $17.60. The average ticket price in the NBA of $19.21, and the average in the NHL is $18 to $19.

Nevertheless, a significant number of Orange County residents, 18%, said they would be willing to pay $21 or more to attend NBA or NHL games.

But there were extremely few residents who said they would be willing to purchase season tickets to either NBA or NHL teams playing in an Orange County arena. Only 4% of those asked said they would buy NBA season tickets and only 1% said they would buy NHL season tickets.

With the cities of Anaheim and Santa Ana racing to see which will build an arena first, The Times Poll found a preference for Anaheim.

When asked in which city they would be more likely to attend sporting events, 22% said Anaheim, while only 7% favored Santa Ana.

However, 34% said they would attend events in either city. But 35% said it is not likely that they would attend events in either city.

“The image that Santa Ana has had in the past is not too favorable,” said Santa Ana Councilman John Acosta, “but we’re coming out of that. You’re seeing all these major developers coming back to Santa Ana.”

Although the arenas in Anaheim and Santa Ana are to be privately built and operated, the current proposals also call for some public funding. This concept apparently doesn’t disturb Orange County residents.

A 52% majority of those polled said that, depending “on the circumstances,” they would approve of using public funds to pay for sports arenas. Of the balance of those questioned, 32% said public funds should not be spent, while 12% said the spending of public funds would be all right with them.

Guanci said those conditionally supportive of using public funds would find the Santa Ana proposal acceptable. Santa Ana’s arena is expected to use property taxes generated by the arena improvements, he said, and would not draw from the city’s general fund or affect services, such as police and fire.

Papiano also was encouraged by response on public funding because the Anaheim arena “is not all going to be built with public funds.” Anaheim has issued $18 million in bonds to be repaid by an increase in its motel and hotel bed tax to acquire land for the arena.

PASSING ON THE RAMS

O.C. appears ambivalent about keeping the Rams. C1

TIMES POLL Views of Orange County residents as measured by the Times Poll.

* Which professional sports team do you follow most closely?

Rams 33%

Angels 29%

Lakers 29%

Dodgers 20%

Raiders 10%

Kings 8%

Clippers 3%

Not sure 1%

* Do you think Orange County needs a new sports arena?

Yes 30%

No 57%

Not sure 13%

* Do you think public funds should or should not be used to pay for sports arenas--or do you think it depends on the circumstances?

Should 12%

Should Not 32%

Depends 52%

Not sure 4%

* Would you be more likely to go to sports events if such an arena were located in Santa Ana or Anaheim, or just as likely to go to sports events at either location? Or do you think it’s not likely that you would go to sports events at either place?

Neither 35%

Anaheim 22%

Santa Ana 7%

Either 34%

Not sure 1%

* What is the most you would be willing to spend for a ticket to a professional sports game--such as basketball or hockey--or would you not go to any of these games?

Wouldn’t go 29%

0 to $10 17%

$11 to $20 31%

$21 to $30 13%

$31 to $40 2%

More 3%

Not sure 4%

* Generally speaking, would you approve or disapprove of having the Rams play in the Los Angeles Coliseum rather than in Anaheim Stadium?

Approve 31%

Disapprove 38%

Don’t know 31%

Source: Los Angeles Times Poll.