Rams Will Put Anaheim on Notice May 3 : Pro football: Team will tell city it will vacate stadium in 1995, but action can be revoked.

The Rams will give formal notice on May 3 that they will vacate Anaheim Stadium 15 months later, the team announced Thursday. But the action is revocable, and the game plan remains classified: Will the Rams open the 1995 season elsewhere? Or will the city of Anaheim hold on against the advances of would-be suitors?

John Shaw, the club’s executive vice president, is the driving force behind the decision and will take on all comers in a high-stakes game for the Rams. But the ultimate decision might come down to the preference of Georgia Frontiere, the Rams’ owner, a fixture in Southern California.

Shaw said Thursday the team would invoke the escape clause in its 35-year stadium lease by making a required $2-million payment by May 3. The clause is a product of 1990 negotiations that removed the Rams as an impediment to construction of the Anaheim Arena.

In a statement, Shaw said the Rams had three options: moving elsewhere in Southern California, moving out of state or staying put. The club reserved the right to revoke the notice, and while the $2 million is not refundable, the Rams expect to receive that much--and a lot more--in considerations if they remain in Anaheim.

Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly said city officials will meet with Shaw within 10 days, but no list of demands is expected. Rather, Shaw will sit back and allow the bidding to begin.

The NFL’s deadline for a decision on whether the Rams intend to leave is Feb. 11, 1995, no later than 30 days before the league’s annual meeting in Phoenix.

The team could also ignore those rules and sue to clear the way for a move at any time.

Both the Rams and city officials question whether Anaheim can be competitive with Baltimore, St. Louis or Memphis, which have promised all but an open checkbook to any team willing to move.

Said Councilman Bob D. Simpson: “The city is severely limited in what it can offer the Rams. (Our) enhancements are peanuts compared to what other cities are offering.”

Instead, top Anaheim officials on Thursday seemed to be hanging their hopes on a change of ownership.

But that might be misguided. In a recent interview, Frontiere said emphatically that she has no intention of selling and that she had already turned down an offer of as much as $300 million, almost double what analysts suggest the team is worth.

“What would I buy with the money?” she said.