Daly Says He Hasn’t Given Up on Rams : Football: Anaheim mayor tells John Shaw that city is serious about keeping team, even if a new stadium is necessary.

Mayor Tom Daly assured Ram President John Shaw on Wednesday that the city is serious about keeping the Rams in Orange County, even if that means building a stadium for them.

Daly’s presence at a meeting with Shaw and sports agent Leigh Steinberg, co-chairman of the Save the Rams task force, was the city’s most public gesture toward the team since they invoked their escape clause on May 3.

“I wanted to make sure it was clear that Anaheim will keep working to try and find a package and formula that makes sense,” said Daly, who also promoted the city’s vision for a sports complex that would surround the stadium.

Save the Rams’ latest plan is to build a football stadium on the Anaheim Stadium parking lot and demolish the old stadium. This is a dramatic shift from the group’s original offer, which involved a $60 million renovation of Anaheim Stadium, converting it to a football-only facility.

The stadium proposal would require funding from the city of Anaheim, the county, the private sector and the Rams. Shaw said the Rams would “consider any deal that’s competitive with any of the other cities” courting the team, but groups in St. Louis and Baltimore aren’t asking the Rams to help with stadium funding.

“I really don’t think it’s fair to them (Save the Rams) to attack their proposal without having some more details,” Shaw said. “We have said continually that any situation that can provide the franchise to be competitive in the future and acquire talent, is something we’re interested in.”

Daly said the idea of a new stadium was discussed only conceptually and it could be several weeks before more details are available and any type of timetable is set. But Daly said he thinks such an idea is realistic given Anaheim’s track record with sports venues.

“We’re a city which found a way to build a beautiful new arena when a lot of people said it couldn’t be done,” he said.

Although a deadline for the Rams’ decision to stay or go was believed to be imminent, Save the Rams might have more time to work on its proposal. In St. Louis, former U.S. Senator Thomas Eagleton, who heads the group attempting to bring the Rams to a 70,000-seat domed stadium being built in that city, has backed off his Dec. 1 target date for completion of the negotiations.

“Despite the best efforts of all concerned, the Dec. 1 target date will not be met,” Eagleton said in a prepared statement. “Some vital issues remain, which will take additional time to resolve. We will not now set a new target date. We shall simply pledge to give our full attention to resolve these vital issues as best we can in a timely manner.”

Dec. 1 and Dec. 15 have been mentioned as target dates for a decision by the Rams. But Shaw said Wednesday that a decision would only have to be made by 30 days before the league meetings March 12-17 in Phoenix.

Steinberg said the Orange County group will “move rapidly” to work out details of their stadium proposal and hopes it will come in time to dissuade the team from accepting another offer.

“If we want to keep the team or want to attract another NFL team, it’s going to take a new stadium,” Steinberg said. “Hopefully, if we build it, they will stay.”

Shaw said Wednesday there are still “a whole bunch of open issues” with the St. Louis proposal.

“If that deal was acceptable to us, it would have been executed by now,” Shaw said. “We’ve been negotiating with St. Louis and continue to do so. We haven’t reached the point where I feel I can take a completed transaction for approval.”

Times staff writer Mike DiGiovanna contributed to this story.