Save Rams Task Force to Make Its Pitch Today : Sports: Group hopes offer of $50 million for minority interest, stadium improvements will keep team in O.C.

Just 12 days before what could be the Rams’ last season opener here, the Save the Rams task force today will unveil its game plan to buy part of the team for $50 million and keep it in Orange County.

The last-ditch proposal, however, doesn’t contain the one thing Rams President John Shaw has said he wanted most, an element other cities are offering: a new stadium.

Still, members of Save the Rams, a group of about 45 local businessmen and elected officials, are confident that their proposal for a refurbished stadium contains enough enticements that Shaw won’t be able to dismiss it.

“I think it is a package of substance and can’t be ignored,” said Orange County Supervisor William G. Steiner, who is scheduled to help present the proposal to Shaw at the Rams’ Los Angeles headquarters this morning. The Rams “don’t have done deals in any of the other communities,” Steiner said, “and frankly I think it would be foolish for John Shaw to reject it flat out.”

Shaw, who has not shown much interest in the Orange County group thus far, has been meeting with officials from St. Louis and Baltimore for months. Both cities are offering the Rams new stadiums.

But two weeks ago, Shaw put talks with St. Louis on hold until officials there work out a lease dispute over the city’s new 70,000-seat stadium.

“I think the whole scenario has changed quite a bit,” said Paul Salata, a potential investor in the team and a member of Save the Rams. “Two months ago there was no chance. Now Shaw’s having a meeting with the group.”

Chief among the enticements being offered Shaw and Rams owner Georgia Frontiere are:

* A $50-million infusion of cash in the form of a minority purchase of the team. Save the Rams members have indicated that 10 yet-to-be-chosen investors, from inside and outside the group, will contribute $5 million each to buy approximately a third of the team, which has been valued at $150 million.

“It isn’t finalized yet by any stretch,” said Ron Lane, a Newport Beach developer and Save the Rams member. “If the Rams were to accept it, then we’d work out the investors.”

* A revamped, football-only Anaheim Stadium complete with improved sight lines to the playing field, more than 100 plush luxury boxes and lucrative club seating with waiter service--all financed by city bond money. Save the Rams members have said in the past that the renovations would cost $50 million to $70 million.

Season ticket sale guarantees would also be part of the package.

City officials and Save the Rams members are considering constructing a new, smaller baseball stadium nearby for the Angels, Anaheim Stadium’s other tenant. The new ballpark would be financed with public and private money.

The Angels, whose lease ends in 2001, also have made it known that they are not happy in the 28-year-old stadium. City officials and task force members have said it would be cheaper to build a new baseball stadium, which would cost about $100 million, than a football arena, which could cost nearly double that amount.

* A new Rams corporate headquarters and practice facility that would include a two-story, 40,000-square-foot building, 2 1/2 football fields, a weight room, a locker room and 400 parking spaces.

After a much-publicized spat with the city and the Magnolia School District earlier this year, the Rams signed an extension of their lease at their current practice field, Rams Park, at the former Juliette Low Elementary School in Anaheim. Rams officials have complained that the park is inadequate for their needs.

As a further enticement, the proposal includes the development of a 100,000-square-foot “mixed-use sports-oriented” retail center near the practice facility, which would include such tenants as Legends Sports Bar & Restaurant and Sportsmart, a major sporting goods chain. A portion of the property tax produced by the retail stores could be used to offset the Rams lease, Steiner said.

The training facility--which would cost about $5 million--the new headquarters and the retail center are scheduled to be built on the current 26-acre site of the Stadium Drive-In movie theater in Orange, Steiner confirmed.

The parcel, bordered by Main Street on the east and Katella Avenue on the south, is immediately across the Santa Ana River from The Pond in Anaheim, which could use the training facility’s parking.

“There’s 400 parking spaces there and parking is $6,” Steiner said. “There’s so many events at the (arena) now that are sellouts, it’s a real potential revenue source.”

The package could be funded with redevelopment money, parking fees and private funds. “It would not be using any existing tax money,” Steiner added.

* To catch Frontiere’s attention, the Save the Rams proposal would also include her pet project, a retirement home for football players similar to one established for movie actors.

Anaheim City Manager James D. Ruth said Tuesday that the Save the Rams presentation is not being made by the city or on behalf of the city. But Ruth said committee members have been assured that the city would be willing to consider renovating Anaheim Stadium should the team decide to stay.

“The city is certainly willing to look at retrofitting the stadium,” Ruth said. “The city is willing to do certain things--if we get the cooperation of everyone--that could enhance revenues for the Rams or another NFL team.”

Save the Rams members said they don’t expect Shaw to respond to the proposal today. The group simply hopes its pitch will open the door to negotiations.

“This is really just the start of the process,” said Frank Bryant, president of the Rams Booster Club.

Times staff writer Greg Hernandez contributed to this report.