Anaheim Arena May Open Sans NBA Franchise

Less than a year away from completion, the $103-million Anaheim sports arena will open without the professional basketball franchise needed to keep the city from losing money, and a city official said it may not lure one for several years.

Although City Manager James D. Ruth said he is confident that the arena will open next summer with a professional hockey team, the absence of a basketball team would cost the city about $1.5 million a year in arena operating expenses, according to the city’s agreement with project partners Ogden Corp. and the Nederlander Organization.

“I think it’s reasonable to say that right now we don’t think we’ll have an NBA franchise in the first year,” the city manager said. “Candidly, the market for basketball franchises right now is very difficult.”

He said it could take up to three years to lure an National Basketball Assn. team to Orange County.

For the past two years, the city has repeatedly expressed confidence in its ability to bring two professional sports teams to the arena by opening day. Securing two teams, according to the partnership agreement, would absolve the city of any obligation for payment of operating costs. Under the partnership agreement, the city is liable for annual payments of up to $2.5 million for eight years if no professional sports teams are secured for the arena.

Ruth’s statement Wednesday, however, provides the first indication that city officials are less than totally confident of their immediate ability to lure professional teams to Anaheim. A basketball team, he said, may not be secured until possibly the second or third year of arena operation.

“I think because of the down economy across the country, cities are fighting like heck to keep” their teams, Ruth said. “And the franchises are going to be re-evaluating their positions to possibly get a better deal. It’s going to be a tough market.”

Ruth and other city and partnership officials have declined to name the teams--either NBA or National Hockey League--that have been approached about relocation. However, reports have surfaced periodically during the past two years about the possible move of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball club.

Officials with Ogden and the Nederlander group could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Mayor Fred Hunter, who has expressed unbridled support for the arena project since its inception, said Wednesday that the possibility of not securing a National Basketball Assn. team in the first year is a “worst-case scenario” for the city. And he is not yet ready to concede defeat in that quest.

“Once everybody sees this arena, it could be different,” Hunter said of the 19,200-seat facility that is quickly taking shape at Katella Avenue and Douglass Road. “I’m still not ready to write it (basketball) off for the first year. The market is lucrative in Orange County. Our people are out there knocking on doors.”

But the city manager said Hunter’s position is “very optimistic.” Ruth does remain convinced, however, that the city will eventually be successful in bringing an NBA team to Anaheim and in the long-term profitability of the project.

Nearly taken for granted has been the city’s confidence in its ability to secure an NHL hockey team as the arena’s first major tenant.

Both Ruth and the mayor have indicated an announcement on such a deal could be imminent, but again officials have declined to name which clubs have been approached by the Anaheim partnership.

An NHL source said Wednesday that representatives of the Hartford, Conn., Whalers hockey club had been approached by an official linked to the Anaheim partnership as recently as Tuesday night inquiring about the club’s possible interest in a move to California.

“It’s definitely not us,” said Whalers owner Richard Gordon, whose team is negotiating an extension on its lease at the Hartford Civic Center.

Wednesday’s disclosures about prospective tenants at the Anaheim arena come well after a local developer in May all but scuttled a proposal to build a competing sports arena in Santa Ana.

At that time, Anthony V. Guanci of the Orange County Arena Partnership said he believed there was little chance of attracting professional indoor sports to Orange County.

Guanci was behind the city-led effort to build an $85-million sports arena on 17 acres off Edinger Avenue. The Santa Ana proposal carried the stipulation that a facility would not be built until a professional franchise was obtained.

In Anaheim, city officials said Wednesday that the project completion--originally set for September, 1993--could come as early as May 1.

City Public Works Director Gary E. Johnson said contractor HuntCor Inc. of Phoenix is on target to collect $225,000 in bonuses from the city for meeting early-completion deadlines stipulated in the construction contract.