Disney Wins OK to Form Hockey Team in Anaheim : Sports: The NHL club, perhaps to be called the Mighty Ducks, may begin play in October, officials say.

The Walt Disney Co., venturing into professional sports for the first time, won conditional approval Thursday to establish a National Hockey League franchise in Anaheim, perhaps as early as next fall.

Unanimously approved by the NHL Board of Governors, the new franchise depends on Disney finding an arena and selling enough season seats to satisfy hockey league officials.

Disney executives confidently announced that their team, tentatively to be called the Mighty Ducks, will begin playing as early as October and no later than fall, 1994.

Walt Disney Co. Chairman Michael Eisner, a longtime hockey fan, said pairing the global entertainment giant with a professional sports franchise will create a certain “synergy” to help promote professional hockey and Anaheim’s role as a tourist destination.

The company’s top executives were quietly pursuing the idea for only the past several weeks, a Disney spokesman said.

“Getting accepted (by the NHL) was like getting into a fraternity. We could sign an agreement next month. I’m confident we can build a successful franchise,” Eisner said.

Disney’s move into hockey could bail the city of Anaheim out of a $1-million payment it must make to owners of a new $103-million arena under construction unless a hockey team arrives by the end of 1993. City officials had been scrambling to find professional basketball and hockey teams to play in Anaheim Arena.

“We couldn’t be more pleased,” said Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly. “Everything Disney does is first-class. Let’s hope they bring some of their magic into the new team as well as the NHL. This is an early Christmas present. It’s wonderful.”

The timing may also be to Disney’s benefit because the City Council must soon consider whether to allow a $3-billion expansion of Disneyland to move forward. But Disney officials said the two projects will be independent in any negotiations that require city participation.

“This wasn’t done to solve a problem. This was done because this is our home,” Eisner said. “They have this (arena) you can see from the top of the Matterhorn. To me, it’s synergistic.”

Business analysts say Walt Disney Co., with its promotional skills, universal grasp of entertainment and reputation for quality, could bring a much-needed boost to the sport of hockey, the less-appreciated cousin of the big three of football, baseball and basketball.

“They bring an awful lot of marketing know-how and things that the NHL thinks it can exploit,” said Chip Campbell, marketing director of International Sports and Entertainment Strategies, a New York-based firm.

Disney must pay about $25 million to the NHL for rights to operate the new franchise and $25 million to Bruce McNall, owner of the Los Angeles Kings, for territorial rights in Southern California. Company spokesman Tom Deegan called the $50-million investment “not particularly large” for the $7.5-billion conglomerate.

Whether the team begins playing next year depends on how quickly Disney can close pending deals and meet other conditions.

McNall, who serves as chairman of the NHL Board of Governors, has endorsed the plan and predicted financial success for the new rival. According to recent Kings’ estimates, Orange County fans make up about 17% of McNall’s season ticket base at the Forum.

“The league looks forward to expanding its reach in the U.S. with the addition of these two important franchise areas,” he said, referring to a new team approved in Florida.

“Hockey has sold in Southern California, mainly because of Wayne Gretzky’s arrival,” he added, noting that attendance has not slipped despite Gretzky’s injury.

The franchise agreement also depends on Disney executives working out a contract to hold home games at Anaheim Arena.

Thrilled by the prospect of having a home team, arena officials said they believe such an agreement is within reach. Brad Mayane of Ogden Entertainment Co., the managing partner of Anaheim Arena, said details had to be worked out, but he is optimistic.

The company also has to prove to the NHL that Orange County can support a team, based on advance ticket sales. The arena is about 30 miles from the Inglewood home of the Kings. The facility will seat a maximum of 19,200, but the hockey capacity will be 17,500.

There were no other bidders for the expansion team, Eisner said, noting that he was approached six months ago by McNall and NHL President Gil Stein. Nor did Eisner need to submit the decision to the Disney board of directors because the $50-million expense was no greater than what a Hollywood movie can cost.

The working nickname for the team, Mighty Ducks, is the title of a recently released movie that is Disney’s only other venture into hockey. The hit movie has grossed $50 million.

“Ducks are what we are going to call it unless I hear otherwise,” said Eisner, who showed up at Thursday’s NHL board meeting in Palm Beach, Fla., in a bright green, purple and yellow Mighty Ducks jersey. “The (movie) was our market research.”

He confessed that the name could open up the team to ridicule.

“Whenever I suggest the title Mighty Ducks, six people tell me no hockey player will play for that team,” he said. “The trouble is, if we don’t win in three or four years, we might be called the Unmighty Ducks--or worse.”

By Thursday afternoon, jokes were circulating among hockey fans about potential mascots for the new team--perhaps Goofy, a Mouseketeer or Donald Puck--and whether the players would wear helmets shaped like Mickey Mouse ears.

Disney would not be the first entertainment conglomerate to own an NHL team; Paramount Communications owns the New York Rangers.

Disney’s Los Angeles television station, KCAL, could benefit by broadcasting the hockey games. KCAL carries Los Angeles Lakers games.

Expanding the league to 26 teams, the NHL board Thursday also granted a conditional franchise agreement for a team to play in south Florida. The team, to be owned by Blockbuster Entertainment chief and Florida Marlins baseball team owner H. Wayne Huizenga, will probably play in Miami Arena.

“We’re thrilled to announce that both of these companies known throughout the world for their marketing expertise, image and family values came and sought to join the NHL,” Stein said.

Times staff writers Lisa Dillman, Kevin Johnson, Matt Lait, and Chris Woodyard also contributed to this report.

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